


Citizen V (REDUX)

by tatitex1



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Angst with a Happy Ending, Betrayal, Blood and Gore, Bloodlust, Curses, Multi, Psychological Trauma, Sacrifice, Temporary Amnesia, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-01-05 20:58:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 38,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21214985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tatitex1/pseuds/tatitex1
Summary: "It all seemed like another normal morning. Until it wasn't."On the morning of June 7th, 2012, forty-eight high school seniors from Fiore High School were preparing to go off on a three-day trip to Hargeon before they would graduate that summer.However, in an unfortunate set of events, most of the students and faculty attending the trip, perished after the bus crashed and burst into flames. Only four of the students survived.Now, three years after the accident, those they love are reappearing again but, with fangs and red eyes and a strange thirst for blood...





	1. Incident

**Author's Note:**

> Here is the redux of the original from 2016, but since I'm rewriting it, I've decided to make a whole new fic for it! I'm going to transfer all the new chapters here and delete the old one eventually.
> 
> Maybe not. I appreciate the comments I've gotten there the last several years and I can't thank ya'll enough for the support of this old fic. 
> 
> Really. Thank you all.
> 
> =OvO=

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was the morning of June 7th, 2012. Forty-eight high school seniors from Fiore High School were preparing to go off on a three-day trip to Hargeon before they would graduate that summer.
> 
> However, as the incident would later be reported as, most of the students and faculty attending the trip were killed after the bus crashed. Most of the evidence would also be later be destroyed by the explosion caused by the crash. 
> 
> Only four of the students survived. Their story begins three years later.

**June 7th, 2012**   
**Magnolia, Fiore**   
**Fiore High School  
7:30 A.M.**

It seemed like another normal morning. A small woman with long and wavy blonde hair waits by the front doors of a school building. Constantly checking her watch, she looks between the clock and the road in front of her for the rental bus to arrive.

"Should be any minute now..." she mutters to herself.

She was almost startled when a honk alerted her to its arrival. It was the bus pulling up to her.

The driver, a nice man with a clean mustache, opens the door and greets her.

"I don't suppose you're an early student..." the driver was hesitant to say, but the lady giggled.

"Oh no, I wish. My name is Mavis. We spoke on the phone. I'm the head of the faculty supervising the trip." the lady laughed, holding out her hand for the man to shake.

"Ah, I see... Aren't you a little young to be a teacher?" the driver didn't seem like he meant to be rude so, Mavis laughed again.

"Don't worry about me, kind sir. I know how to handle these kids. Have been for a couple of years now." she then heard multiple cars pulling up into the parking lot of the school, notifying her that some of the students had arrived on their own or with their parents, "And that sounds like them now!"

Out of one car came a burly blonde teen and his group of friends, consisting of a disaster bi with marvelous green hair, an eccentric young man with a blue mohawk and visors, and a brunette waving a fan to cool herself from the heat. This young man happened to be her cousin, Laxus.

"Sorry, we're late. Freed was taking too long with his luggage." the blonde explained to Mavis.

A young man with green hair, Freed, gasped at the accusation, "L-Laxus! I was only trying to be prepared!"

"By packing your entire room for the trip?" the brunette chuckles, fanning herself fabulously.

"Like you're one to talk, Evergreen!" Freed retorts, "You're the one that couldn't pick out her outfits when half of them look practically the same!"

The visored man laughs at the ordeal between Freed and Evergreen as they shout at him, "SHUT UP, BICKSLOW!!"

"And I'm also sorry about them..." Laxus sighs, thinking that it was much too early to hear his friends bicker and laugh at each other.

"No, it's alright. You got here just in time!" she smiles fondly as he cracked a small one himself.

"Good morning to you too, cuz." he greets as he threw his bag over his shoulder.

As the other students began to arrive and fill the seats on the bus, a whole hour passed into the morning. When nearly all of the students had been seated and began chatting away, Mavis began to do a headcount.

"Forty-two, forty-three, forty-four... We seem to be missing a couple." Mavis noted just as a car rushed into the school's driveway.

From the bus window, she viewed a car speeding into a parking spot before four students jumped out of the car and began scrambling to grab their things to get onto the bus. She giggled, recognizing her brother-in-law from the group.

"Good morning, Natsu. Zeref told me you were at Lucy's so, I figured that you were going to be late." Mavis smiled as a boy with spiky pink hair and a girl with some of her blonde hair tied into a side ponytail walk up behind him. They sat into one of the remaining four seats on the bus as the boy chuckles.

"Oh, nii-san said that?" The boy, Natsu Dragneel, relaxed back into his seat as the blonde next to him sighed.

"Zeref-san doesn't hide anything from his wife... What relationship goals..." the girl, Lucy Heartfilia, sighed in content as Natsu reached to hold her hand.

Natsu and Lucy had been dating for a little over two years now and someday, she hoped that maybe they would be more than "just dating".

"Flamebrain wrecked his car again so, I had to go pick up his stupid ass." A gruffer voice entered the bus, belonging to a black-haired male student being followed by a petite blue-haired girl carrying a book or two.

"It was one time! And I only ran it into a telephone pole! Nobody got hurt!" Natsu exclaimed back.

"Just a telephone pole?" Lucy gives him a look of disappointment.

"Gajeel, please be nice." the blue-haired girl insisted as she and the giant teen sat in the empty seats in front of Natsu and Lucy.

The black-haired student, Gajeel, nods, unable to say no to her, "Fine, but only because it's you, Lev."

He proceeds to ruffle her blue locks and she blushes, putting her attention back to her book as Mavis did a final headcount. Satisfied to find everyone in their seats, she began to call the roll and list the children into groups for the chaperones to take when they arrived. Twenty-four children into it, she continued to shout-

"Group 5! Yukino Agaria-"

A girl with white hair in a bob style perked up at her name.

"Cana Alberona-"

A girl with long brown hair and a tattoo on her arm looked over her bottle of water (yeah, believe that).

"Rogue Cheney-"

A boy with black hair and red eyes looks up for a second, regretting it the moment sunlight hits his eyes before pulling down the hood of his jacket.

"Sting Eucliffe-"

A blonde boy with blue eyes jumped excitedly, startling Rogue who sat next to him.

"Kagura Mikazuchi-"

A girl with long dark purple hair continued to snooze softly, earplugs secured in place to ensure that she would sleep peacefully throughout the trip.

"-and Lyon Vastia!" 

A boy with spiky white hair chuckles softly at the message he received via text message, quick to send a response back.

"Group 6! Laxus Dreyar-"

The buff blonde nods, acknowledging his cousin.

"Evelyn Green-"

The brunette girl in Laxus' group, nicknamed Evergreen, smirks confidently, fanning herself with her frilly fan since it was a little too hot for her.

"Freed Justine-"

The boy with green hair beamed since he got paired into a group with his beloved Laxus, in which the blonde nervously looked away from his sparkling blue eyes.

"Lisanna Strauss-"

A girl with white hair tied in small pigtails giggles from a joke her sister told her.

"Elfman Strauss-"

A white-haired boy, tanned and buff, jumped with enthusiasm as Evergreen hits him with the fan, threatening him to sit back down or else.

"-and Bartholemew Wolski!"

Freed and Evergreen snickered as the blue-haired member of Laxus' group, Bickslow, heard his birth name be called out. Lisanna, who was sitting right next to him, gently patted his shoulder for comfort as he gave a request for her to paint his nails when they arrived at the hotel. She said that she would, but not before looking at him with frustration.

"Group 7! Natsu Dragneel-"

The pink-haired boy upfront smirks.

"Lucy Heartfilia-"

The blonde girl sighs as Natsu laughs in joy, hugging her tightly.

"Leo Lions-"

A boy with ginger hair and sunglasses winks at Mavis with the mention of his name.

"Virgo Lions-"

A girl with magenta-colored hair in a bob style and a straightforward stare nods in acknowledgment.

"Aries Ram-"

A girl with fluffy pink hair shyly nods as Leo chuckled, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and watches her blush adorably.

“-and Mirajane Strauss!"

A gorgeous girl with long white hair smiles as Lucy pumped up her fist in joy.

"Group 8! Jellal Fernandez-“

A boy with blue hair in a beanie smiles, nodding softly that he understood while trying not to move.

“Gray Fullbuster-“

A boy with raven-colored hair chuckles with amusement as the girl sitting next to him fawned over his expression.

“Juvia Lockser-“

The long-haired blunette sitting next to Gray cheered, hugging his torso with glee.

“Levy McGarden-“

Levy looked up from her book for a moment, only to turn her attention back to it not a second later.

“Gajeel Redfox-“

Gajeel smirked, the piercings on his eyebrows furrowing as he watched Levy’s face burn red.

“-and Erza Scarlet!"

Gray and Gajeel’s smirks were interrupted when they turned their attention to the red-haired girl resting peacefully on Jellal’s shoulder.

“Alright, does everyone know their group when we get there now?” Mavis heard the students respond with a collective answer of yes before pulling a bright smile and shouts, “Well, then let’s get this show on the road! Onward to the Senior Class Trip to Hargeon!”

The students that were conscious and aware in the early morning cheered, excited about getting away from their finals and their stress of college exams. This trip was going to be monumental, the last hurrah before they were going to be set up for college and growing up.

Just for a little while longer, they could be children and have some fun.

“I can’t wait to see Lucy in a bikini!” Natsu almost squealed like a girl.

“Pfft-" Gajeel laughed, "As if bunny girl can top Levy’s sweet ass!” he shouts as Natsu grits his teeth.

“Huh?! Are you blind, metal face? Lucy is _clearly_ the better girlfriend!”

“Are you the one that’s blind, flame ass? Levy is the perfect woman!”

"Lucy! Gajeel-kun and Natsu-san are fighting again!" Juvia Lockser shouted over the seat where the two boys were brawling.

The blonde sighed, hearing her best friend, Levy, Gajeel’s girlfriend, laughing nervously.

“Despite the fighting, it's nice to hear how much they love us, right, Lu-chan?” Levy giggles, watching Lucy smile in response.

Laxus continued to check his phone for texts, smiling as a number popped up in response.

His friends watched closely as Laxus chuckles, sending a message back quickly.

“Is it her again, Laxus?” Freed broke the silence and Laxus quickly realized that he, Evergreen, and Bickslow were staring at him with shit-eating grins in amusement.

“I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about, Freed.” Laxus tried to brush it off, but it only made his friends want to get more into his business.

“Oh, we know you know what we’re talking about, Laxus.” Evergreen giggles.

“It’s that junior you like, yeah?” Bickslow stuck his tongue out, showing off his tattoo of the school emblem.

“Lilian? No, no way.” Laxus once again tried to reject the idea, but Evergreen laughs.

“So it is her!” She squeals, “Our beloved leader likes a girl!”

“Shut up, Ever! You want to let the whole world know?” The blonde watched the girl snicker.

“Maybe.” She hid her face behind her fan, but he knew she was smirking with delight.

“It’s alright if you like her, Laxus. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.” Freed smiles, placing a hand on Laxus’ shoulder.

“It’s not like we don’t approve. We wouldn’t tease you otherwise.” Bickslow chuckles, “You can’t blame us for doing it though. You’re unteasable on just about everything.”

“It’s fine. I don’t care about that. I just don’t know if she likes me back, that’s all…” Laxus texts a message to her in response to her joke.

“Ask her out,” Freed says bluntly.

“What?!” Laxus shouts, a blush threatening to form over his face.

“You don’t have to do it over text. Just say that you want to ask her something when we get back. No harm in doing that.” Freed smiles, “If you’re nervous, just know we’ll be in your corner!”

“That’s right.” Evergreen agreed.

“Always!” Bickslow added.

“You guys…” Laxus chuckles softly, “Are ridiculously positive and it’s still too early for that… But the thought is appreciated.”

Lyon texts his girlfriend, a junior he asked out earlier that year, another cat meme. She sent a link to the vine with the geese and The Police’s “Every Breath You Take” playing behind it. He laughs, catching the attention of his cousin, Gray, sitting behind him.

“You texting Meredy?” Gray asks, seeing a smile warming his cousin’s usually cocky grin.

“She’s a master of memes and my heart,” Lyon says with a grin, and Gray laughs.

"Well, aren't you tied around her finger?" He chuckles as Lyon looks at him.

“And Juvia doesn’t have you wrapped around hers?” He says and Gray smirks.

“Oh no, it is her very capable fingers that I am wrapped around. Her very beautiful, capable fingers.” Gray licks his lips.

It took a couple of seconds for Lyon to figure it out, but once he did, his response was, “Oh. That’s what you meant.” Lyon looks back at his phone, his expression filled with disgust, “You’re gross.”

“You’ll understand when you’re not a virgin,” Gray says, leaning back into his seat as Juvia wrapped her arms around his neck. He followed in tow, wrapping an arm around her waist to bring her closer and let them relax.

“I want to go to the beach first! Or, or maybe we should go shopping around! Or-“ Sting was cut off by Rogue kissing him.

“Please shut up. I love you, but I hate the sun and I just want to sleep it off. Okay?” Rogue smiles, seeing the blonde staring with a flush in his cheeks.

“Y-Yeah… Crystal clear, babe…” Sting smiles something lovesick as Rogue pulls up the hood on his jacket and sat back in his seat, maybe dozing off and slumping on Sting's shoulder.

“They’re as lovey-dovey as ever.” Kagura, who had since been wide awake after Gajeel’s shouting overrode her music, watched the two’s interaction from the seat across.

“Isn’t it wonderful?” Yukino smiles, “Our boys are adorable.”

“I guess…” Kagura hooks her fingers around Yukino’s own, watching the girl’s cheeks flush pink, “But you’re more adorable.”

“K-Kagura-chan!” Yukino nearly squealed as Kagura’s face turned red.

“D-Did I do something wrong?! Why are you laughing?!” The girl shouts as the other girl giggled at how cheesy she was.

“Stop texting me, stupid dad…” Cana smiles softly, sending back a text to her overprotective father.

“Leo? What do you want to do when we get there?” Aries asks as Loke chuckles.

“Spend some time with you, princess. Whatever you want to do when we get there, Aries.” He winks, enjoying the blush forming on his girlfriend's face, and his sister, sitting in the seat in front of him, stares with her straight face.

“Nii-san, can we visit the Hargeon Museum of Nature and Fishing History? I heard from Lucy-hime that there will be an exhibition on medieval torture practices.” He saw Virgo’s eyes sparkle, “All those forms of punishment accumulated in one place…”

“Sure thing, Virgo…” Loke sighs, thinking about how strange his sister’s interests were, but he couldn’t deny that he loved how excited she was.

“Lisanna?” Bickslow nudges at his girlfriend’s side, watching her angrily pout and turn away from him.

Evergreen snickers, “Laxus’ love interest aside, this is more hilarious.”

“He still hasn’t figured it out… Even I have realized it and I’m not exactly the smartest man.” Elfman, Lisanna’s brother says.

“Oh, I’m sure he’ll figure it out eventually.” Mirajane, their sister, giggles.

“Oh, come on, Lis… What are you mad at me for?” Bickslow nudges her shoulder, but she continued to pout.

Unable to take much more of this stupidity from his friend, Freed says, “Bickslow, what day was the 29th?”

“A Tuesday?” Bickslow seemed confused and Evergreen was trying to hold back her giggles.

“What exactly happened on Tuesday that was very important, Bicklslow?” Freed was tired of this.

“Lis’ birthday obviously- Oh.” When it finally clicked for the blue-haired teen, Evergreen finally lost it and began laughing like she was trying to die from asphyxiation.

“Lisanna, I’m so sorry! I’m so stupid!” Bickslow tried to apologize for being so dense.

His girlfriend finally lost it and began shouting, “You are stupid! Natsu is denser than you and even he remembered! Dummy!” Lisanna was angry and blushing all at once.

“She loves him.” Evergreen purrs and the albino blushes harder.

Mavis got a call from her husband that she was happily able to pick up.

“Hey, honey.” She answered.

“Mavis.” she could practically see the smile he must have from hearing her voice.

“What’s up?” She asks.

“Just dropped Zera off at the pre-school and am rushing to the school as usual. Sorry I couldn’t see you off.” He sounded a little disappointed in himself, “How are the students?”

“Oh don’t be.” She insisted, looking back at the children, “The students are good by the way. No fights from your brother so far. Well, nothing that's involved fists or broken beakers yet.”

She heard him chuckle, “I doubt that will last long.”

Her husband, Zeref Dragneel, was Natsu’s elder brother and headmaster of the school, making him technically her superior. However, being husband and wife meant that honorifics were beyond them (but they are still professionals of course) (or so they tell themselves).

“It seems like it’s gonna be a good trip!” She smiles.

“I’m glad.” He chuckles.

She paused for a bit before whispering, “Zeref?”

“Is there something wrong?” He heard the change in tone and perked up in concern.

“No, no! Not at all!” She shook her head, trying to sound more positive, “I just need to speak with you about something when I get home, that’s all. To you and our daughter.”

“It’s that important that you can’t tell me now?” He sounded worried.

“Yep!” She tried to reassure him by giving him a giggly response, caressing her stomach all the while with a loving smile on her face.

“Alright. I trust you.” He sighs, expressing a content tone, “Have a safe trip and I’ll see you on Sunday.”

“I love you, Zeref.” She says, feeling warmth in her chest.

“I love you too, Mavis.” She heard him say back with the same warmth before she hung up and felt the bus stop.

The students were concerned, seeing as they stopped in a wooded area, practically secluded from the town they left. Mavis stood up and asked the bus driver, “Why have we stopped?”

“There's a man in the middle of the road, I think...” The driver points forward to a figure in a black cloak and Mavis felt the hairs on her neck beginning to rise.

Laxus and Gajeel jumped from the sudden change in the atmosphere. Levy looks up in concern as Gajeel tells her to sit back down so he could take a better look.

“Should we let him on?” The driver asks as Mavis gulped down her anxiousness.

Why was she so worried, she thought. It had been years since they appeared, years since the incident that drove her and her family far away from their world, and yet, she was shaking.

“Drive.” She said and the bus driver didn’t ask any questions, but he still looked concerned, “We have to hurry.”

“Mavis?” Laxus finally got close enough to grab his cousin’s shoulder when all of a sudden, glass from the front windows broke and Laxus was pulled back.

“What the-“

The bus became silent and the lives of four students would change forever.

* * *

**June 7th, 2015**   
**Magnolia, Fiore**   
**Fairy Hill Apartment Complex, Apartment 4E**   
**8:32 A.M.**

The slamming of a door is was woke her up that morning. Groaning, she pulled the covers over her face to shield her eyes from the impending sunlight.

"Lu-chan! You have to get up!" she heard a girl shout from her door.

She groans again, making it obvious to those outside her room that she didn't want to move. The party from last night gave her a major hangover. Her head was pounding and she felt groggy, just shitty in general. There was no way they could force her to go to class today-

"Lucy! If you don't get out, I'll break the door down!" She then heard the screams of another girl as she slams her fists on the door.

"Oi, Lucy! Don't test her in the morning! She will do it!" A boy finally broke from the madness that ensued outside her door.

She continued to hear the girl banging on her door like savages until she eventually decided to give up on sleeping. There was no point in arguing with her housemates so early in the morning. And it was a Sunday too. She hates Sundays.

"Alright, alright, I'm getting up so, please! Can you all just shut up?!" she screams, throwing a pillow at the door as she finally heard the ceasing of the slams and footsteps walking away.

Sunday mornings... She swore that they sucked in high school and they still sucked as she became an adult. Still, for once, she was glad that they were banging on her door. She was having a very specific nightmare again. She couldn't believe that it was reoccurring again, but she could understand why. She breathes, getting up from the bed to go do her morning routine.

She walks up to a corkboard above her work desk, noting on the calendar that it was almost two days till summer break for the college students.

"Finally." the blonde smiles at the thought, tying back her long hair.

She remembered how hellish it had been for the four of them. Since that day three years ago, not a single one of them came back quite the same. Then again, they still don't remember what quite happened either. From what the police told them after they were finally cleared from questioning, the bus took a wrong turn and crashed into a secluded wooded area near Mt. Hakobe. As for the reason as to why the bus caught on fire, the police still aren't quite sure, but what they were sure of was that the only reason those four survived was that they seemed to had just fallen out of some cracked windows or the emergency hatches and landed far away before it went up in flames. There were over forty-eight students and twelve chaperones on the bus that day.

Only four of the students made it out alive.

Since then, after ridicule and unwanted attention from the press, they moved to Crocus, rented an apartment for four, and began to attend college. They promised to always look out for each other. Like family. Like how those who lost their lives wanted it to be.

Nothing would ever hurt them again. That was something they could be sure about.

* * *

A file labeled '**Citizen V**' was placed on the desk in front of four men in the office.

"Are we sure they are ready?"

"We don't exactly have a choice here... You heard the reports, the same as we all have. They've returned for them to finish the job."

"You all know the rules." a man turns to another, "You're the clan leader. You get the final call on this." the other two of them turn to a man with ebony-colored hair.

He thinks of his answer, hesitant for he could be wrong. His dark eyes scan over to the picture on his desk, of his wife and child smiling. His brother had photobombed like the child he was, but he loved this photo all the same. It was of happier times before all the bloodshed had started again. He sighed. He had to do this. He had to get his daughter's smile back.

"Okay... When the time is right, we bring them in and explain everything. The truth will come out." he gives his final answer.

One particular file was placed onto the hardwood table, reading:

**The survivors of the Fiore High Senior Class Trip Bus Accident:**

  * **Gray Fullbuster**
  * **Levy McGarden**
  * **Erza Scarlet**
  * **Lucy Heartfilia**


	2. Dead...?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy Heartfilia: A normal college girl working in a coffee shop and then, a mysterious hooded figure comes in, one with a particular head of hair and glowing eyes...

**June 7th, 2015**   
**Crocus, Fiore**   
**Crocus Hunter College**   
**10:48 A.M.**

Crocus Hunter College is famous across the country for being an elite art college, both visual and performing. As the top art program in all of Fiore, students from across the country fight to get in and succeed.

There were infinite amounts of classes to take, given you could only pick up to two studio classes and the final was boring mandatory stuff. All the staff and teachers were perfectly equipped with the knowledge to teach them to the students' fullest potential, academically, and artistically.

Of course, there is no exception to the headmaster of the college. He was a particularly young man with hair as dark as the night sky and equally dark eyes to match. He joined the faculty only a couple of years earlier. The staff that personally knew him always said that he was a nice, hard-working leader that just happened to have tragedy be struck upon.

Walking into his office, he pulls out his computer and begins to type. Today was the day. He knew that it wouldn’t be long until they would be targeted and killed. After losing all that they had known and loved, he knew that he and the others had to protect them. This time. This time for sure. Tragedy would not strike them again.

He managed to grab their files to find their schedules. He had to be exact. There could be no mistakes. If he couldn’t find all four, they could end up dead, and knowing the enemy, they don’t make the same mistakes twice.

The four survivors of the attack:

**Lucy Heartfilia**  
Age: 21  
Hair Color: Yellow/blonde  
Eye Color: Brown  
Major in Fictional Writing  
Minor in Astrology

**Gray Fullbuster**  
Age: 22  
Hair Color: Black  
Eye Color: Dark Grey  
Major in Sculpture  
Minor in Chemistry

**Levy McGarden**  
Age: 21  
Hair Color: Blue  
Eye Color: Brown  
Major in Fictional Writing  
Minor in Language

**Erza Scarlet**  
Age: 22  
Hair Color: Red  
Eye Color: Brown  
Major in Animation  
Minor in Psychology

Heartfilia took classes in the morning and McGarden the afternoon and Scarlet and Fullbuster took night classes. He understood that except for McGarden, the other three had jobs. Heartfilia and Fullbuster both worked in the same coffee shop, him working in the morning and her the night. Scarlet worked in the school’s gym, dealing with signing people in and out and making sure all the equipment is in shape. They were all sophomores too, according to the credits listed in the system and they all lived together in an apartment nearby.

This was good, he thought. It would be easy to find them all at once. Well, maybe not Heartfilia. He should keep a close eye on her.

* * *

Her pencil taps against the desk repeatedly. Who knew being in a class you loved so much could be so boring? Then again, today was today, she thought.

Today marked the third anniversary of what happened during a horrifying accident that shook the nation. How the death of forty-four seniors and their counselors occurred in the most bizarre of fashion. According to the police report, one of the buses sent out to go to Hargeon for the school trip had a gas leak and after the engine started to fail in a wooded area outside of town, an explosion engulfed the bus in flames. The students and their teachers burned alive. Out of the original forty-eight, only four were spared.

She was a survivor. Over the past couple of years, she managed to finally block out most of the memories of what happened but, she did recall being told often that she and three others were lucky. She, Gray, Levy, and Erza were able to escape somehow before the bus caught on fire. They would later learn that after burning for three hours, the bus was found but, a little over half of the bodies were already unrecoverable, burned away so much that they were practically ash.

They lost people they loved. Friends. Family. Lovers. All taken in only a matter of seconds.

They cried. They suffered. They were interrogated and butchered for the press. They were poked and prodded at by doctors and yet, they were still here.

She took in a breath. She recalled never being able to tell Natsu that she loved him for the last time. They would’ve been happy, celebrating the eighteenth party he never got to see. She knew that there was nothing she could’ve done. It was purely an accident and it was nothing she or anyone else could’ve controlled. As to why she couldn’t remember what exactly happened…

She shouldn't dwell on the past anymore. An idea as preposterous as that was a ridiculous pastime. There was no way that the accident could have not been one. It wasn’t as if things like the supernatural or aliens existed so, being able to time and control a bus crash is impossible. Besides, it’s not like it would bring anyone back. No one can bring back the dead.

They're all dead and there's nothing she or anyone else could do about it.

"-u-chan? Lu-chan!" she heard Levy shouting above her, frantically pointing her pen above her blonde head.

Lucy lifts her eyes off of where she was spacing off from and met the annoyed expression of their art history teacher, Mr. Clive. His eye was twitching. She chuckled.

"Is there something you'd like to share with the class, Miss Heartfilia?" he asks as she gives a cheeky smile.

"No thanks. I'm fine." Mr. Clive only sighs with this response and proceeds with his class.

Lucy thought that she shouldn't be only pitying herself and the others. Other people lost their loved ones that day too. Cana Alberona, a good friend who drank underage and couldn't keep her hands off her, was Mr. Clive's only daughter. She had only turned nineteen a month before the trip.

And that was just the teacher of their college. The headmaster of their high school, Makarov Dreyar, suffered from his beloved grandson, Laxus Dreyar, who served as the speedster of the basketball team. Even the headmaster of the college, Zeref Dragneel, lost the two most important people in his life: his wife, one of the school’s best English teachers, Miss Mavis and his brother and the love of her life, Natsu.

I began to tap my pencil on the desk and Mr. Clive was getting annoyed again. Soon enough, he gave up trying to get the blonde to pay attention and continued speaking about proper grammar in writing a paper due at the end of the semester.

* * *

**12:48 P.M.**

The bell rings for the afternoon classes to officially start. For Lucy, it meant that it was time to go to work.

Even though she lived in a nicely sized bedroom, her apartment complex was split between herself, Gray, Levy, and Erza. A four-bedroom apartment was difficult to afford so, they all had to pitch in to pay the bills.

While Erza and Levy work for the university as private tutors, fitness instructors, or even librarians, Lucy worked as a barista in a coffee shop near the school: seven dollars an hour, seven days a week, all hours of the day. Gray's father, Silver Fullbuster, owns this particular establishment, and thanks to Gray for giving him the tip, she got a job there last summer. She and Gray are somewhat the only employees that work there. The rest were being that came to clean, but they weren’t exclusive to the shop or anything like that. They just came with the college backing up the coffee being sold to keep their students productive.

Since she mainly had classes in the morning, Gray took the day shift, dealing with the groggy college students getting up at 7 AM. Compared to that, she found that she got the easier job of dealing with the all-nighters wanting expresso-zilla. On that day though, her morning classes were canceled and Gray got called out to go on a field trip, which meant they had to switch shifts. She was already exhausted from this morning and now-

"Lucy!" she heard her boss, Silver, shout as she finished pulling on her uniform.

“What’s up, Silver-san?” She asks as he brewed an iced coffee for a customer. Lucy would constantly argue that Silver and Gray could make some make mean iced coffees. Best ones she’d ever find. (Take that Starbucks.)

"Gray called me a few minutes ago and said that he has to take some extra courses tonight. I know you had to open up this morning, but do you mind locking up today? If you don’t, I can do it-“ he asks and she shakes her head.

"I don't mind at all, sir..." She sighs, “But I wish Gray would’ve called me first.”

“He said he did call you, but your phone must’ve been on silent, which can only mean-“

“I’m not in a speaking mood.” Lucy playfully stuck out her tongue and Silver chuckles.

"Alright, but tell that boy that he owes you one." Her boss smirked, washing his hands and disappear into his office.

So, she thought, the night shift...

* * *

**10:30 P.M.**

She sighs, cleaning up the last coffee brewer. Her boss went home an hour ago and Gray called, apologizing for not asking her in person to take both shifts. She laughed and told him it was fine. She wasn’t exactly the biggest fan of the dark since it often brought back some pretty cruel memories, but money is money. They need to pay the rent this week and she didn’t have time to play with her fucked-up memories.

The tiny ring of the bell rang above the entry door, grabbing her attention. She knew that she had forgotten to lock the door, but she figured that even the sleep-deprived students knew that it was beyond closing time. She thought that it wouldn't hurt to stay another twenty minutes to brew one more coffee. Then again…

“I’m closing up for the night. Is there something I can do for you?” Lucy asks the mysterious man that walked in.

He was slightly suspicious, given every slasher flick she had ever seen. The guy in the black hoodie is either a superhero in disguise or hiding a knife in his sleeve. He was somewhat tall, 6', just a couple inches under Gray's height. She couldn't see his face and his hair was covered by a black hood. His jeans were dark and his sneakers were red, the color spotted darker in some places. She shivers, feeling something beginning to burn in her stomach. Her body was telling her to run, but she didn’t understand why. Something is wrong but, she was not exactly sure what...

He didn’t speak, but with a playful flick of his tongue, she could see a smidge of his mischievous side. Something inside of her was screaming to run, cry out for help, _something_ other than just standing there!

When the man finally spoke, she felt chills that shook her to her very core.

“Long time so see, _Lushi_…“

With that sentence alone, she reached for a blender and threw it at the man. Grabbing her phone, she quickly escapes the coffee shop and began running down the street. It was late, but it wasn’t dark enough for people to have retreated into their homes for the night. Just keep running, don’t look back, she continued to scream in her head.

Nobody just called her by that name. There were only so many people that knew that nickname of hers as last she recalls-

Two of those people have been dead for some time now.

When she had the college in her sights, she almost breathed a sigh of relief until she felt something grab at her wrist and yank her backward. She fell, landing on her back and scraped an elbow. She hissed, feeling the open patch of skin. She needed to escape. Ready to run again, she was knocked down as soon as she tried to stand. Feeling arms wrap around her waist, she was lifted up and practically thrown into an alleyway. She crashed against a dumpster, falling onto the floor as she whimpers in pain.

“Oh, Lushi… How I’ve missed you…” it was that man’s voice again.

Don’t look at him. Don’t give him the satisfaction of your fear. Don’t be afraid. Don’t-

Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt the man grab her by her hair, forcing her onto her knees. Trapping her wrists under his hands, she realized that she could no longer escape. She was stuck between his body and this dumpster, which now had an impressive dent in it. She refused to look at him. She shut her eyes tight as she felt his breath over her cheek. She whimpers, scared.

“Lushi…” he coos, “Come on, Lushi…” he felt him press kisses against her cheeks and her eyelids, “Lemme see your eyes.”

“I-If you’re just going t-to rape me… J-Just get it over w-with!” She tried to sound strong, but she couldn’t help her voice cracking. She was terrified.

“Lushi… Lushi, Lushi, Lushi… You’ve got it all wrong.” She heard him chuckle, hearing the moving of fabric before feeling another kiss pressed against the corner of her mouth, “Look at me.”

She didn’t want to. She knew that if she were to look, she would give him complete control.

“I’ve wanted to see you for so long now…” he felt his grip over her wrists tighten, “Please don’t make me have to hurt you, Lushi-“

“ENOUGH WITH THAT NAME! HOW DO YOU EVEN KNOW THAT NAME?!” She finally screamed, scared and angry and unafraid all at the same time.

There was silence for a moment before she heard the soft calling of, “Lucy.”

There was a tug on her heart and she opened her eyes. She finally saw his face.

His eyes the color of lucky clovers. His hair wild, but the color of a fish, a soft salmon pink. She saw a smile draped over his face, a soft expression of mischief and amusement. She felt tears stung at her eyes. There was only one person she knew that looked like this, but the last she recalled, he-

“Oh, Lucy…” she witnessed as his smile twisted, sharpened pearl white teeth gleaming as his lucky green eyes melted away into the vibrant color of a strawberry. Red.

She remembered the color red. She saw it every day with her roommate’s beautiful red hair, but his eyes were muddled, burning the color into a rusty form of itself. It was the color of blood.

She felt tears roll down her cheeks, body shaking against her will. There was no mistaking it. She could even recognize his voice now.

“Do you recognize me now, Lucy?" he chuckles, licking his lips.

“N-Natsu…” she feels him press another kiss to the corner of her mouth, licking her lips in satisfaction.

“That’s right, Lucy, my love… I finally came back to you. You have no idea how long I’ve waited to be with you like this. How much I’ve had to endure to return to you. Those fools over at command ordered me not to go. It was not time yet, they kept telling me, but I said. Fuck. That.”

He looked almost… Hungry. She could see his eyes clouding over and she tried to shake out of her restraints, but he had an iron grip.

“I’ve waited for too long… I want you, Lucy…” she could see the sharpened fangs elongate, his red eyes gleaming amid the darkness.

“P-Please, n-no…” she cried, begging him to let her go, to leave her be.

“I thought you’d be happy, Lucy. After all those tears I saw you cry, I wanted to see your smile for so long…” she heard his tone change. She knew that he was getting angry by how tight he held her down by.

“You have no idea how much pain I felt! Even though my insides were being ripped into, I endured it! ALL FOR YOU, YOU SELFISH BITCH!” He was quick, removing her grip on her wrist one to wrap his hands around her neck with the intent to suffocate her, “I DIED FOR YOU! I BECAME LIKE THIS FOR YOU! I DID SO MANY HORRIBLE THINGS AND I LOVED IT, ALL FOR YOU, MY LOVE!”

“N-Nat-t-t-tsu…” she couldn’t breathe. Oxygen wasn’t filling her lungs. She knew that soon, she was going to die and she found that she was okay with that. Her being alive was another stroke of luck anyway. This was just karma’s way of getting back at her for even thinking that she could live with the sin she saw happen that day.

She could still hear the screams.

_Blood... Blood drenched the floor, the seats, dripping down the windows and stained the ceiling. There was no place on the bus that didn’t have the sickening scent of metal coating it. Huddled in a corner, she was shaking, gripping onto the blood-stained jacket of her boyfriend as they attempted to hide behind some of those that were already deceased. She wanted to cry, but he insisted not to make any noise._

_She could barely remember the carnage, but she knew that during their travel to Hargeon when their bus stopped in a suspicious area. The door opened and then, the first of the blood spilled onto the ground. Laxus Dreyar bled out in seconds. The rest of the prey began to scramble as other foreigners invaded the bus, red beginning to coat the walls as screams began to fill the air. Frozen in fear, she continued to watch in horror as every one of her teacher and classmates were brutally murdered._

_She could hear cries as her cousins are slain, the Strauss siblings desperately reach for one another, the last of the Thunder Legion to cry over the loss of his friends and so many other various and vicious deaths surrounded her. She did know who was alive or who was dead now. She was too afraid to open her eyes to see otherwise._

_She clung onto Natsu, wearing his jacket as a means of warding off the blood as the pinkette held on tight to her shaking form. They were trying so hard not to be noticed because to be noticed would mean an instant death sentence._

_“N-Natsu?” Her voice cracked, “I-I don’t want to die… Not in a place like this…” she sobbed as Natsu shielded her tears against his shoulder._

_“I won’t let that happen. Not to you.” Natsu seemed so calm. It was odd, she thought._

_Natsu thought with a cool head before finding one of the emergency windows open already._

_“I’ve got an idea.” Natsu grabs onto her hand, “Whatever you do…” he grips their hands together, “Don’t let go of my hand until I tell you to.”_

_“O-Okay…” she could barely remember this part._

_There was running, the vision of trampling over corpses and blood-stained hair and bodies. Her eyes were blurry with tears as they collided into a section in which an emergency window was open. Just as escape was in reach, she felt something pull her back. It wasn’t her that was pulled back, but it was Natsu._

_She tried hard not to watch this part._

_One of the creatures had grabbed his wrist and pulled him back. It was a free-for-all after that. Many of the creatures had begun attacking at his body, gnawing at his arms and chewing away at his neck. There was so much blood. But the worst of it all was when some begun to tear into his abdomen, ripping his skin open like paper as more blood began to stain the seats. She could see organs, stomach, kidney, intestines flying out and being eaten whole._

_Even after all that, he was still alive, holding onto her hand._

_"Lu-Luc..." he began to choke on his blood._

_His green eyes were beginning to fade, but not before he let go of her hand and she knew what that meant._

_She jumped out of the window, landing onto the ground and hearing a soft crunch. She screamed, feeling her wrist now sporting a limp hand. Sprained wrist aside, she began to run down the road, crying, screaming out for anyone to find her._

_Someone did. After running for five miles, the police had arrived a whole nine hours after it all began, but by then, the bus had crashed down a hill and burst into flames, taking all the evidence and the bodies with it. Most of the coffins they buried didn’t have bodies to bury. The doctors claimed that the bones had even been cremated._

_No one believed them. The press claimed that their story was too extravagant and the doctors claimed that it was just them reacting to their stress. No one questioned for truth and the case was locked up to one fatal bus crash._

_And that was it._

For the first time in a long time, she was happy. She was going to die and then, she’d be able to be with her parents and her sister and Natsu once more. She was supposed to be happy to finally be able to die.

Then why was she trembling, crying, begging to live? Maybe it was just her brain reacting to the fact that less oxygen was entering her body, but she also couldn’t believe that this imposter, this man that claimed to be Natsu was going to be the one to end her. Not like this. Not when he looked more like the beasts that killed him in the first place. She was clawing at his hands gripping around her neck as she tried to get him off. He laughs at her pathetic attempt.

“Oh, Lucy… God do I love you… When we’re done here, I’m going to take you home and I’m going to ravage you like old times.” Natsu was breathless, taking in Lucy’s pain as if it were bliss, “But first, I’m really hungry… Lucy, would you mind if I drink you first?”

She wanted to scream, but he was crushing her windpipe. Nothing was coming out but the choked cries of the girl as the man bent down his head, smelling her and loving her fear.

This was it, she thought. She was going to die as she should have on that bus. This was it.

Or so she thought.

She heard a hiss from the man above her, feeling his hands loosen as she takes a deep inhale.

“YOU! DAMN EXORCIST!” Natsu growls inhumanly, his hands steaming as if they were rising in temperature.

“Lucy, please get behind me.” She knows that voice!

She sat up and saw the headmaster of the college, Natsu’s elder brother, Zeref Dragneel.

“Zeref?!” She hoarsely shouts, seeing the man’s dark eyes appear black as he was walking deeper into the alleyway

“Lucy, I thought that I was you. When Silver told me that he couldn’t find you in the shop, I expected that you were tailed, but...” Zeref raised a hand, “I didn’t think they’d send him here.”

“I know you…” Natsu’s eyes narrow, “My mind is blurred, but I can smell your kind out a mile away…”

“Natsu… What have they turned you into?” Zeref put up a strong front, but inside, he was hurt.

Those creatures, his kind now, had turned his beloved brother into this crazed killer.

“DIE!!!” Natus charged, arms bursting into flame as Lucy cried out in a hoarse scream.

“PLEASE NO!!!”

There was a struggle for a moment and then, there was silence. Lucy refused to open her eyes. She didn’t want to see another mangled body of someone she cared for.

“It’s alright, Lucy. I’ve taken care of it.” She heard Zeref’s voice response against the silence and she cautiously opened her eyes.

One of Zeref’s arms had what looked to be chains wrapped around them and on the other end of them was the pinkette. Natsu was struggling, midnight black chains wrapped themselves around his body, tying his limbs together and rendering him immobile.

"Bastard! Release me!" Natsu wiggled, trying to loosen himself from the chains, but when he thought he was freed, Zeref tightened them again.

“Don’t even think about it. These are chains blessed by a fairy exorcist. You’re not going to be able to break them with strength alone.” Zeref sighs, looking at the blonde, “Are you alright? Did he bite you?”

“Bite me?! What the fuck even is he?!” Lucy screamed despite the pain in her throat.

“I can explain everything, but not here. It’s not safe.” Zeref lifts the hand without the chains and a flash of black appears. He lifts the squirming Natsu onto it, allowing him to float in the air for easier travel.

“I promise that this will all make sense.” Zeref smiles at her. Lucy sighs.

“Okay.”


	3. Tame

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After discovering the truth, Lucy is thrust back into a world she doesn't remember ever being in.

**June 7th, 2015**   
**Magnolia, Fiore**   
**Fiore Hunter College**   
**11:34 P.M.**

Zeref had said nothing as he carried the pinkette, who was still struggling to get out of both his grip and of the dark chains. Every time he yanked, Zeref’s grip only tightened further.

“We’re almost there.” The dark-haired man says.

It was the first time that he had spoken since she had been rescued by him. Since then, they’ve been walking for ages until she noticed that they were in a forest area somewhere near town.

“Where are we going exactly?” She had managed to get some of her voice back now.

“Somewhere safe,” Zeref says, the two and captive reaching a tree with intricate carvings made into the trunk.

Zeref proceeds to place his unchained hand against the tree and miraculously, the marks begin to glow. Receding slowly, the marks blend, and a door in the trunk opens wide.

“Woah…” Lucy was amazed at the sight.

“Do watch your step.” Zeref gives a smile, letting Lucy go in front of him.

Stepping down through the trunk, she found the set of stairs descending further into the ground. There was a slight draft, meaning that there was some kind of air circulation that made the area habitable. It was still dark though and even though her eyes adjusted from the outside, there seemed to be no light here.

“_Ignitious_.” Zeref voiced a simple command and flames burst to life, lighting up torches across the walls and bringing light to the stairs and the room below, “That’s better.”

“What did you do?” Lucy walks down to the stairs.

“Simple fire spell. Don’t worry. I’m sure you and the others will be able to handle magic in no time.” He gives a smile and she felt her anxiety grow.

“M-Magic?” She realized that there were no more stairs to step down upon.

Lucy turns around and finds herself in a place that looked similar to her shared apartment. There was an area with a counter-top and a fridge that seemed to be a kitchen area. Several lights hang above the ceiling, giving some sort of proper lighting to the room. There was also a door at the end of the room that Lucy assumed would lead to another part of this strange underground lair.

“I assume that you don’t find this place too disturbing.” Zeref arrived down the steps, growling Natsu in tow.

“Zeref, what’s going on?” Lucy asks as Zeref’s magic floaty thing that had been holding Natsu all this time (well, Lucy didn’t know what else to call it at the moment) dropped the pinkette to the floor and the man howls in pain.

“That hurt, you bastard!” He thrashes against the chains and Zeref looks down at him with an unpleasant glare.

“Save your breath. That pain is nothing.” Zeref then proceeded to walk towards the door at the end of the room, dragging Natsu behind him, “What you’re going to receive is so much worse than a bruise on your side.”

“Woah, hold on, w-what are you going to do with him-“ Lucy is cut off when the door opens and Zeref throws Natsu in.

The man crashes onto the ground, black rock skidding in his wake, and the chains still tightly wrapped around his body.

“_Moldio._” Zeref forms a command and the chains melt into the ground, forcing Natsu to stay still on the floor.

“RELEASE ME NOW!!” Natsu’s inhuman scream filled the room as Zeref turned to Lucy, who’s faced was once again twisted with fear.

“Lucy, I understand that you’re confused. You got attacked by something that looks like your lost lover, my brother, but what you have to understand that the person I dragged in just now is no person.” Zeref was giving her no reason to doubt his claims, but she was also rational.

“What do you mean he’s not a person?” He takes her into the room and shuts the door tightly, the sound causing the pinkette to thrash in his hold.

“I mean what I say I mean. This man is no man. He has not been human for a rather long time.” Zeref sighs, “I know you might not believe me when I say this, but I can only hope that you’ll listen.”

Lucy was skeptical, but after seeing what she’s seen, it wasn’t completely insane for her not to listen. He did save her life after all.

“Okay.” Lucy agreed and looked over at Natsu, “So… What is he?”

Zeref sighs, taking a breath before beginning to speak, “Over the last several centuries, mankind has existed on this Earth. However, we are not the only ones. Things like him have been called by many names over the years. Nocturnals. Bloodsuckers. Nightcrawlers. Immortals. Strigoi. Upyr. But the most common name for them is vampires. Monsters that share a human form.”

Lucy felt a lump form in her throat, “V-Vampire?”

“Yes. I know it sounds like make-believe and please believe me when I say that I wish it was all fake, but monsters are real.” Zeref insists, holding onto her shoulders before pointing to the man on the floor, “And he’s one of them.”

“So…” Lucy carefully approached the pinkette, seeing him growl at her presence, “He’s Natsu?”

“Once. Vampires come in many forms. Some are born and others are made. Since Natsu was once a human, he was bitten, infected, and then was turned into this insatiable creature.” Zeref pulled off his coat, proceeding to pull up his sleeves.

“What do you mean-“ Lucy was cut off when she witnessed black marking appearing over Zeref’s arms, “H-How do you know about all this?”

Zeref chuckles, “It’s my job.”

The man then approached the vampire and said, “What was your objective exactly? I know you can’t possibly have a mind of your own.” Zeref snaps his fingers, “_Crucio._”

Electricity bounced off Natsu’s body as he screamed. Lucy felt tears beginning to burn her eyes and then rushed to grab Zeref’s arm to stop him from whatever he was doing.

“S-Stop it! You’re hurting him!” Lucy cried out.

“Lucy, you need to understand that whatever he meant to you, to me, he’s not him anymore. He’s no longer a human being.” Zeref shrugged his shoulder away from her and said, “You and the others were once a part of an underground organization, made to protect the balance of peace and chaos. Between us humans and them. We call ourselves the exorcists.”

Lucy grits her teeth, “If I’m a member of your so-called supernatural peace corp, why don’t I remember any of this?”

“Because you’re a mutt-“ Natsu was interrupted when Zeref snapped his fingers again, sending volts of electricity through the vampire’s body.

“We had to erase them, your memories, for your protection. After what happened, we decided it would be best if you all forgot and lived your lives in the world of the unaware.” Zeref ceased his magic and Lucy held a fist.  
“That is such bull-“ the blonde was put on hold

“All will be explained in due time. All you need to be aware of is that you and your friends are no longer safe living a mundane life. You all need to be brought back in, be retaught your skills, fight back. The others, just like Natsu, are all coming back for you to finish what their superiors couldn’t.” Zeref looks over at Natsu lying on the ground, steam coming out of his burns and panting from the pain.

“What are you asking us to do exactly?” Lucy’s eyes widened as Zeref’s darkened eyes turned to her.

“You’re going to have to kill them.” He says and watches as he pulls a knife from his belt, “One blow to the head or heart with blessed silver should do it.”  
“WHAT?!” Lucy hits his hand away, knocking the knife to the ground, “ARE YOU INSANE?!”

“It’s the only way to stop them! Once you turn and drink human blood, there’s no going back!” Zeref’s dark eyes hardened into a glare, “They aren’t human anymore.”

“What makes you in charge of saying that?! After knowing what we’ve been through?! You expect me to believe this? This is your brother! I loved him, _you_ loved him and you want me to kill him? Even if I did, what makes you think that I’ll watch Natsu be murdered again?! AND YOU OF ALL PEOPLE KNOW THAT I WOULD RATHER DIE THAN WATCH THAT HAPPENED AGAIN-“ Just as Lucy felt tears drip down her face, Zeref heard a crack.

Shit! He lost focus for just a moment and his chains had weakened, given Natsu the perfect opportunity to break free. The pinkette snarls with delight, ripping the chains with ease before seeing them fade to dust. He looked towards the exorcist and his target. His throat was parched. He was just so hungry. If he killed the exorcist and ate the girl, he thought that would satisfy his sire.

“Lucy, run!” Zeref shouts, summoning his chains to capture the vampire, but the pinkette was able to avoid capture since the element of surprise was no longer present from the first time.

“Oh, Lucy, lemme eat cha.” The pinket’s eyes were glowing red, a half-lidded hungry state looked at the girl, “I promise it’ll only hurt for a second.” He licks his lips and Zeref launches another attack, only to be thwarted by the vampire’s own.

The creature summoned flames onto his skin, wavering and incomplete, but enough to cover his fist and sent the chains crashing back to the exorcist. Zeref made an impact against the wall, his chains vanish from the crash.

“NO!” Lucy cried out of fear as Natsu backed her into a corner, holding up her arms in a futile attempt to shield her face from the horror, “NO!”

Zeref heard the vampire hiss, biting into flesh and he knew he had to use another spell, “_Formulus_\- Huh?“

He disrupted his spell when he saw a soft yellow light surrounding the victim.

“_Firo, calmase._” Zeref stood up, seeing this disassociated voice coming out of Lucy’s mouth as she got the two of them to kneel on the ground.

He has to assess the situation. Natsu has indeed bitten into her, but it was her arm, not the neck, which he guessed was good since that would mean no major arteries. On top of all that, Lucy’s eyes were a bright yellow and she spoke in the tongues that only exorcists knew. Magic spells. Knowing her family, he wasn’t surprised, but since all that information must’ve been tucked inside her all this time, he was shocked about it suddenly coming out. Speaking of spells, he couldn’t figure out her objective for giving him blood unless-

“No, it couldn’t be... A spell of that magnitude used by an amateur?” if he was right, and most likely he would be, then the spell she was performing was **that one**. He was sure of it.

“_Firo, calmase._” He watched as she reached out her other hand and wiped the blood off his mouth and rub it onto his neck, “_Humane restorare._”

In a flash of bright light, he saw the blood dissolve into his skin and form a thick black line around his neck. A leash! He was right!

When the light faded, Natsu leaned back, detaching from her arm. Her yellow eyes reverted to her normal color and she began to whip her head around in confusion.

“Huh? What happened…?” She looked back at Zeref and asked, “Zeref-san? Why are you looking at me like…”

She trailed off when she looked at the pinkette and nearly jumped back, hitting the wall behind her. She lifted her arm again, hissing in pain when she realized that she was wounded.

“B-Bite marks?” She cautiously looked up, seeing that the vampire had not moved an inch. Lucy sat up, slowly crawling over until she was right in front of the vampire. She waved a hand in front of him, but he made no reaction.

When she was able to finally able to swallow her anxiousness, she said, “N-Natsu?”

It was then that she got a reaction. His red eyes reverted to olive green, his green that she knew well. She watched as he lifted his head and saw her, really saw _her_. And he began to cry. Copious tears began to fill his eyes and silently drip down his face. It nearly broke her heart, causing her tears to form.

“L-Lucy?” He carefully reached a hand and barely scraped a hand against her wet cheek before he pulled back quickly, “ I… I can touch you.”

She gave a shaky smile, nodding as he quickly pulled up to her, placing his head against his chest, shaking as he gasped out, “Your heartbeat. I-I can hear it…”

He looked up with wide, happy eyes, “You- You’re real! You’re real!”

He looked around the room, his expression unclear as to where he was, “I-I’m not dreaming anymore right?” His eyes widened with fear, “Please tell me I’m not dreaming anymore! I don’t want to go back to the dark!”

Lucy wasn’t sure whether to comfort him or weep, but she knew better than to just remain quiet. She did what she felt was right and held out her arms, giving him a soft smile, “It’s okay, Natsu.”

She whispered as he practically launched himself into her embrace and began to sob.

“Shh...” she rubbed her hands on his back and through his hair, trying to hold back her tears and the lump forming in her throat. She whispered under her breath, “Oh, Natsu... What did they do to you? All this time and…”

She shook her head, kissing his hair as his sobs began to slowly calm themselves back into quiet happiness, “No... You don’t have to answer anything right now.”, she whispered, brushing away Natsu’s tears as she felt the soft intakes of breath, “You look so tired. Rest up.”

Zeref was astonished, “W-What…?”

A girl her age knowing a technique like that? She must’ve been at least eight or nine years old when the association erased hers and the rest of the children’s memories so, he doubted that her parents taught it to her at that age. It was also an ancient technique that only the truly willed users could hold, let alone actually perform. Then again, he thought, given who Lucy’s mother was and her lineage, it was possible for her to just... Know?

“This is all too complicated to think off when you’re running on only two cups of coffee...” Zeref felt a headache coming on.

“Shh…” Lucy ushered softly, “I think he’s been through enough for one night.” She smiles sweetly at Natsu before leaning her gaze up to Zeref, her smile now dragged into a straight line, “Now talk.”

* * *

It took some time to explain everything. After bandaging up her arms and treated the burns on Natsu, the three were now in some infirmary room. Natsu was peacefully asleep in a bed and Zeref applies the last of the bandages to Lucy’s arms, speaking slowly about his clan’s history and her listening carefully.

“So, we’re exorcists?” She asks.

“That’s correct.” He answered, cutting the bandage before applying the tape to make the wrap complete.

“But we have no memory of ever being them.” She said.

“Yes.” Zeref put away the first aid kit.

“And now our once dead-“ She corrected herself, “Still dead- Lovers and friends are coming back to try and kill us to finish what started on the bus three years ago?”

“Can’t leave witnesses. Something that we exorcists and their kind share in common. The existence of a race other than their own would cause panic amongst humans and as we know, humankind does not handle panic well. Panicking leads to rash decisions, which leads to wars and genocide. Vampires rely on us as a food source so, a mass decrease in population is not advised.” Zeref explains, “I understand that this must be a lot to process...”

“This… It is a lot for me to wrap my head around.” Lucy rubs at her forehead, “So, we have to fight these vampires to preserve our lives? Then what did I do exactly? That thing with Natsu?”

Zeref pulled up a chair to sit in front of her, “An ancient technique I wasn’t aware that modern exorcists were even able to perform anymore. It’s called taming. Normally with turned humans, their bloodlust and hunger overtake their humanity until all you see is a shell of who they once were. You were able to give a piece of your soul, an offering to him, that brought him clarity, out of the haze of bloodlust and back to a clear mind. He’s still a vampire, but he now has the heart of a human. His emotions have been returned to him.”

He stands, walking over to Natsu and sighing, “Under normal circumstances, no one can wield this magic, but my working theory is that the combination of your repressed memories and your magic reacting under stress allowed you to use it.”

“I’m not sure that makes much sense-“ Lucy notes that her arm still hurts when she moves it.

“As I said, it’s only a theory. We will have to conduct experiments to make sure.” He gently brushed pink locks from his brother’s face, “There’s no telling the kinds of things he’s seen over the years. Judging by his reaction before, I’m not sure if he would even remember his time under that haze.”

Zeref retracts his hand and walks back over to the blonde, “Lucy, you must understand that you have a very important task now. As his keeper, it’s your job to control him. If not fed, he will lose control and this spell will break and he will revert to what he was before. If that happens, I can’t promise that the spell will work twice. If that ever happens, you know what I will have to do, right?”

She grips at her shorts, refusing to look him in the eye, “Yes, sir…”

Zeref smiles, patting the blonde’s head, “You’re a responsible girl. I have faith in your abilities.”

Lucy felt herself give a small smile as Zeref suddenly flipped his head to the door, “We will be having company soon.”

“Who?” She asks as Zeref opens the door, “The others are grabbing your friends. I suspect that Natsu is not the only one that will appear tonight…”

* * *

Inside of the town stood a single woman on top of a bell tower. She was waiting for orders while her partner went to find himself a snack.

With a buzz in her ear, she answered.

“Salamander’s fallen off the radar. We are going to assume that the exorcists got to him.” A voice uttered through the intercom.

A woman pressed on the earpiece, “Understood. Shall we move forward?”

“Go.” Was the only order she received.

“Understood. Rain Woman and Kurogane are in position.” The woman jumped through the bell tower window, finding her partner’s teeth deep inside the neck of a young church girl.

The woman scoffed, “Kurogane, she’s already dead. Why are you still eating?”

He released his grip, licking his lips, “Why not? She’s still warm.”

“Disgusting.” The woman was annoyed, “You’ve always been a messy eater. I can’t believe I got paired with you.”

“It was either me or that stuck-up bastard from the Cadaver Squad. I know how much you hate Salamander.” The man dropped the body to the floor, picking muscle from his teeth.

“Speaking of him, we’ve received orders. Seems that Salamander got himself captured.” She saw him chuckle.

“Serves that moron right for going ahead of us.” The man stands up, cracking his knuckles, “Lemme guess. Those exorcists found him.”

“Sharp as ever.” She giggles, seeing him grunt.

“Fuck. This means we gotta go rescue his dumb ass now.” He was already pissed since his snacks weren’t stopping his craving.

“Don’t worry.” She pats his head like a child, “He got caught picking up his old sweetheart. You know what that means, don’t you?”

Seeing a smirk form on the other’s face, he laughs, “Gee hee… Reading you loud and clear, Rain Woman.”

The two jump back to the top of the bell tower and he takes a deep breath, picking up the scent in which the source of his cravings was, “Finally…”

“Take care of her first and we’ll meet back up to get Salamander. Okay, Kurogane?” She says, seeing as he was getting excited.

She hops off the bell tower and he also starts moving.

“I’m coming for you...”

“_... Little shrimp_.”


	4. Blood Steel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Zeref had Lucy Heartfilia covered, somewhere nearby, Levy McGarden sat peacefully in the school library and read away without a care. But after discovering blood on the floor, she realizes that she is no longer alone.

**June 8th, 2015**   
**Magnolia, Fiore**   
**College Library, located 3 blocks from the secret exorcist guild entrance**   
**1:02 A.M.**

> _“I guess we'd better move the trash. We can start with the dumpster." He pointed at it, looking distinctly unenthusiastic._
> 
> _ "You'd rather face a ravening horde of demons, wouldn't you?" Clary said._
> 
> _ "At least they wouldn't be crawling with maggots. Well," he added thoughtfully, "not most of them, anyway. There was this one demon, once, that I tracked down to the sewers under Grand Central—"_
> 
> _ "Don't." Clary raised a warning hand. "I'm not really in the mood right now."_
> 
> _ "That's got to be the first time a girl's ever said that to me," Jace mused._
> 
> _ "Stick with me and it won't be the last."_
> 
> _ The corner of Jace's mouth twitched. "This is hardly the time for idle banter. We have garbage to haul.”_

Levy was taking a break from studying, finding the fiction section of the library and reading a copy of City of Bones. She doesn’t remember why she liked this series so much. Perhaps it had something to do with the way Clary and Jace reminded her of herself and the boy she thought she was going to marry, but alas, life is kind to no one.

Rubbing her eyes, she looked over to the clock hung on the library wall and realized that she had overstayed again. She wouldn’t be surprised if the librarian was trying to find her so she could kick her out again.

She cleaned up as efficiently as she could, putting books on racks to be reorganized later and pulled her laptop back in her bag. She imagined that Lucy went home or was on her way to pick her up since she knew neither of them liked the dark.

She grabbed her bag and prepared to be greeted by the librarian when she didn’t find her at her desk. She thought it was strange since the woman didn’t do much after hours, but to leave her night lamp open on the desk? There was no way that the overcautious woman would’ve done that and risk fire to the books. Levy reached to turn off the lamp when she was greeted by the sound of dripping. 

“That’s odd? Is there a leak I didn’t notice?” Levy looks around the desk and she was met by a horrifying sight.

She dropped the lamp, oil spilling on the ground as she fell back in shock.

“H-Huh?!” She saw the elderly woman’s body on the floor, covered in a pool of her blood. Her face was frozen with fear. Levy saw the giant tears in her neck as if she was mauled by an animal.

“T-Teeth marks?” Levy was shaking, trying to make sense of all this. The last thing she needed was to have a panic attack. She had to calm down, think rationally.

“W-Who-“ those marks could have no way have been made by a human’s hands, “W-What could’ve done this?!”

The lights in the library flicker off and Levy nearly screamed. She grips at her head, trying to get back on her feet. She had to get out of here. Every fiber of her being was telling her that she was no way safe here. 

“No…,” the doctors told her to stay away from the dark, since it triggers a relapse in memories, in those illusions she saw during the accident that day, “T-There’s no way…”

Alarmingly, she recalled those kinds of marks on her friends as they butchered each other. But that isn’t true, she told herself. She knew what she saw and she knew what her friends saw too. The doctors convinced them that their minds made these disillusions to deal with their trauma, but Levy has read every book on psychological problems and trauma victims and relapses and nothing convinced her that what they saw was a lie. Nevertheless, the truth right now was that the librarian was dead and it was in all possibility that whoever or whatever killed her was still in this building. And if they find her, they'll likely kill her too.

Levy managed to stand, abandoning her backpack in case the weight would hold her down if she had to run. She tried to reassure herself that everything was fine, “All of that was just figments of my imagination going wild from everyone killing each other…” those memories she had weren’t real, that none of this was real, “This must just be a horrible dream-“

There was the clicking of footsteps coming down an aisle to her right. Someone was here. Petrified, she heard someone whistling a tune. She recognized the song, but could not put her finger on it. The footsteps sounded heavy. That meant this person was larger than her, much larger.

“Little shrimp, little shrimp...” a deep voice called out in a song-like manner, “Where are you, my little shrimp?”

She covered her mouth, trying to muffle her screams as she whimpered, “N-No w-w-way...”

Before she could even begin to cry, she felt someone breathe on her neck and whisper, “Found you.”

She took off running after that. She heard the laughter erupt from his throat.

“I LOVE IT WHEN YOU HUMANS RUN!” she dashed down an aisle of books, hearing his laugh echoing throughout the building, “MAKES THIS GAME OF OURS ALL THE MORE FUN!”

She kept running. No looking back, she told herself as she searched for the doors. She was panicking, her breathing rapid and out of control. When was the last time she felt like this?

Oh. She remembered.

_Her breath was short and anxious. She tried to cover her eyes from the carnage, but then she would hear the screams and understand what would happen to those around her either way. She felt blood hit her skin every so often and then she'd flinch in fear. She couldn't understand how this could all be happening. It was the stuff of nightmares and horror films come to life. When she did have the courage to open her eyes, she saw as a student's arm was thrown carelessly in front of her. Horrified, she saw a tattoo of a crow on the wrist. She knew whose arm this was. She was eventually shaken to her senses by her boyfriend, who remained alarmingly calm amongst the chaos._

_Tears streaking down her face, she began to shiver with terror, “R-Rogue... H-He’s-“_

_She felt hands over her face, warm ones that almost kept her from completely losing it, “Lev, I know, but you’ve gotta calm down." Gajeel looks her straight in the eyes, "We can't do anything for him..."_

_He glances at the arm for a moment and before gritting his teeth, forcing himself to look away before he started to think too much into it, "We have to think of a way out of here while those things are distracted.”_

_“B-But-“ she stuttered, but he forced her to keep her eyes on him._

_“Levy, I love you, but pull panicking for later!" Gajeel found the emergency door located in the back of the bus, quickly checking back to see some of the man-eating creatures still occupied with some students before whispering, "We have to move now!”_

_He grabs her wrist and the two dash for the door. He grabs the bright red handle, trying to pry the door open, but it wouldn't budge. However, that didn't enable noise to not come out of trying. And it attracted attention that neither of them wanted at the moment._

_She started to shake, whimpering as she grabbed onto his shoulder, "W-Wait, Gajeel!", refusing to keep her eyes from the bloodthirsty animals that now laid their eyes onto them, "Gajeel, hold on!”_

The girl crashed through a shelf of books, effectively knocking down a few as she continued to hear the man pursuing behind her.

“I’m just having a nightmare!" she cried as she attempted at collecting herself, trying to dash for the door that would lead outside, "A horrible, horrible nightmare!”

Moonlight hits her eyes, letting her know that the door was within her reach. She heard the man's footsteps, taking his sweet time, even whistling the same tune as before he laughed.

Levy grasped at the doorknobs, but neither one would open and the horrific realization came to her: the librarian locks the door to signal the close of the library and she would unlock it only to let herself and Levy leave every day. And she was the only one with keys. It was the same hopeless scenario all over again. 

The whistle ceased and all she heard throughout the building was this deep laughter. Frozen with fear, she finally met the face of her terrorizer. Large build. Muscular. Long hair, black and messy. A wide smirk on his face with two piercings over his bottom lip and chin. Red, illuminating eyes almost hidden in the dark. He laughed, lifting a hand to show the set of keys that would take away the last bit of hope she had.

"Looking for these?" he asks, tilting his head to the side in amusement.

She cried, turning away in an attempt to hide her fear as she made a desperate attempt to pry the doors open with her bare hands, “Lucy! Gray! Erza! Help!”

Her memories of that day swirled inside her mind, reminding her of the very same way she almost died-

_They were looking at her as if she were a snack. Gajeel was trying desperately to open the door that would lead to a way out, but it was stuck._

_“Damn door is wedged tight!” he growls, hearing the monsters behind him and Levy beginning to sniff into the air._

_“Gajeel, some are looking at us!" Levy cried, terrified and he didn't blame her, "Hurry!”_

_She didn't want to die and he didn't want to see her die either. Soon enough, it would've either been them or this door that might get them caught. It was now or never! Using this newfound determination, he pulled all his strength into his grip and pulled down. Hearing a click, he smirks, propelling the emergency door open in success._

_“Yes!" he cried out as some of the monsters began to rush towards the back to locate the source of all the noise. Gajeel lifts Levy into his arms, helping her down the slightly steep step towards the ground._

_“O-Okay!" she decided against arguing as he set her down and she gave a quick look around for anyone in sight. In organized attacks, she usually found that people would be left outside in case anyone had decided to find them. However, she was met with nothing but the trees alongside the secluded road. Satisfied with her findings, she prepared to help Gajeel down, turning to meet his face, "Alright, gimme your-“_

_She heard the sickening crunch of bones breaking before slowly retracting her arms in and fresh blood spurts onto her cheek. She froze, her mouth beginning to widen in horror. Gajeel seemed to be confused, seeing her face._

_“W-What the...” He said weakly as he peered down and saw a large blade embedded through his chest, sticking out dramatically. He coughs out a bit of blood and felt sharp nails embed themselves through his hair, preparing to pull him back._

_“G-Gajeel...?” Levy felt raw tears beginning to form as she struggled to move._

_“L-Levy...?" she watched tears beginning to run down his wide eyes, "Run-“_

_He didn't even get to finish his sentence before she witnessed a hand stretch around his neck, ripping into the skin with sharp nails and blood spurted out, choking out any last words he was going to say to her. She screamed, tears burning her eyes as she began frantically running down the road. Her tears wouldn't stop forming, no matter how many times she tried wiping them away. Gajeel was dead. She just saw him get _murdered_in the worst way possible. No one survives that. Not even in the movies. She tripped, skinning her knees before she ripped her heels off, and continued running on foot. She cried out, hoping that someone, anyone would find her and help anyone that could've still been alive back there. Maybe they could save Gajeel, she told herself._

_Hearing sirens in the distance, she screamed, “HELP!! SOMEBODY PLEASE!! HELP GAJEEL!! PLEASE!!”_

“HELP!! SOMEBODY PLEASE!!" she cried out, slamming her hands on the doors in hope that someone would still be outside, "I DON’T WANT TO RELIVE THAT NIGHTMARE AGAIN!! PLEASE!!”

When she felt strong hands grasp at her arms, she began to scream bloody murder, thrashing to be released, “NO!! LET ME GO!! HELP!!" she felt her whole body being dragged away, slammed onto her stomach against the cold ground and whimpering as what little hope she had left for coming out of this alive was destroyed, "Help...”

She felt her attacker place his whole body weight onto her, holding her arms tight enough to leave bruises. Even though she had a good idea about her survival, there was no way she was going to let this man have his way with her without a fight. She squirmed in his grip, feeling her arms being held against her back as she kicked her legs. Levy cried as she felt one of his legs go between hers and his breath over her neck. He going to rape and murder him. Screaming, she tried to escape his iron grip.

“Come now, little shrimp. Stop squirming around." he breathes in her scent and chuckles in satisfaction, hearing her cries, "If you keep moving, all that delicious blood in you will spill out and it’ll be such a waste."

"P-Please... I-If you're gonna kill me, please... Please! I don't want this!" she begged, tears hitting the ground.

She felt him lean up for a moment and heard him laugh almost hysterically, "PLEASE! As if I'd ever fuck a human! I will admit though..." he takes another deep breath of her scent, even dragged his tongue against her skin and heard her whimper, "God, I’ve been craving you, almost to the point of obsession! Something about this scent of yours gets even my dead heart pumping!”

“N-No..." she tried to beg again, "P-Please... I-I don’t wanna die..." in her despair, she began to cry out the name of someone she wished could save her, "Gajeel! Gajeel, help m-me!”

“Gajeel?" her attacker laughed, amused with her screams, "Who the fuck is that? He sounds like an asshole.”

Noting how much less she tried to squirm, he takes a free hand of his and swipes it under her chest, “You know, Salamander has a thing for that human he was supposed to take out. I don’t see the appeal in them." he reaches for her neck, feeling the blood flow underneath her skin that just screamed to be devoured, "All you humans are nothing but blood bags." he licked his lips, "But then again, humans like you are more delicious than others.”

“G-Gajeel... Somebody h-help me!” she pleaded as she tried to flee. 

“Stop squirming already, you bitch!” he decided in lifting her against the floor so it would be easier to access her neck. While doing this, a necklace of a cross hanging off a nice chain came into his view.

“Hold on..." surprisingly, something strange began to stir inside of him, something swirling inside his stomach, "Where did you get this necklace-" as soon as he touched the necklace, his fingertips were scorched and blackened from burns. He quickly retracts his hand, hissing from the pain before growling into her ear, "Blessed silver? Where the fuck does a normal human girl like you get blessed silver-“

Barely being able to ask what he was even talking about, they heard glass breaking from the doors of the library. In an instant, Levy felt herself being dropped and heard her attacker snarl before hearing a gun go off and seeing a bullet embed itself into his shoulder. The impact of the bullet knocked her attacker back into a set of shelves, effectively knocking them down with him.

“To make a girl cry like that under any circumstance is downright criminal. Good thing I take care of things like you.” Levy recognized that voice and raced towards it with certainty that this meant her survival chances had increased.

“Fuck." her attacker had sat up, his eyes still illuminating in the darkness, seething from the bullet wound, "An exorcist.”

“Now, I may not be magically enhanced like some people, but I dare say that my strength and my gun is still superior to your race." she watched as her savior scratched his head for a moment in thought, "Well, the gun is second for me. Not the point." he gives her a well-deserved smile, "Miss McGarden.” the faded orange hair and always-present stubble made tears stream down her face in nothing but an absolute joy.

“G-Gildarts-san...” she wanted to hug him and cry, but she knew that it was probably inappropriate given their relationship as student and teacher.

“That's right!" her teacher chuckles, helping the girl to her feet and adjusting the cloak around his body, "I’m sorry about all this. If I had come any later, you would’ve been his dinner.”

"Dinner? T-That guy's a cannibal or something-" she realized something, "Hold on! Gildarts-san! How did you know how to find me or about that guy and why did he call you an exorcist-"

The sound of books skidding across the floor got their attention as she saw those red eyes moving in the dark. The man sits up, smirking, “On the contrary... I already had dinner a while ago." he stands up to his full height, cracking his neck, "I was hoping for dessert. Oh well." he began to charge towards the teacher, "Guess I’ll have to settle for a midnight snack too!”

Levy was shoved aside as Gildarts takes the full force of her attacker's punch, revealing the prosthetic arm that was hidden under his work clothes. Gildarts smirks, gripping at the other man's hand. The arm was silver, shinning under the moonlight, and just as before, her attacker's hand starting to singe and he screamed. Gildarts released his grip and the other jumps back, holding a blackened, twitchy hand. 

“Wow! Look at you being all jumpy!" Gildarts chuckles, holding up his arm, "One-hundred percent, genuine blessed silver."

"Fuck..." Levy watched the skin of his hand reform and so many thoughts began to run through her head.

"H-How is he..." she was frozen in place as Gildarts pulls out his gun, loading it.

"That thing right there is a bloodsucker. A vampire. Same things that attacked you and your friends all those years ago." Gildarts explains, but all of Levy's rational was trying to argue against him.

"Vampires? You're trying to tell me that the things that killed Gajeel-" she saw the attacker snarl, baring his fangs for them to see.

"Unfortunately, I can't exactly say that he was killed all the way..." Gildarts sighs, aiming the gun above them and releasing what she thought was a flare that exploded as soon as it made an impact on the ceiling. Golden light filled the room and she was finally able to see the entire face of her attacker.

Her eyes widened, taking everything in. Sharp jawline. Strong chin. Those broad shoulders. His unruly long black hair. His eyes. They weren't the red she was normally used to though. And he had eyebrows the last she recalled. He even got more piercings, replacing the area around his eyebrows. His gaze was menacing, threatening to tear her apart the minute she would decide to run. He smirked as if he knew that she was terrified. And he loved it.

And he looked exactly like him. Like Gajeel Redfox, who she knew rationally to be dead, but he was standing right there nonetheless.

Gildarts sighs, "I used to reprimand you and Natsu all the time, Redfox... How the mighty have fallen.”

“Redfox?” the Gajeel-lookalike growls as Levy tried to keep herself from hyperventilating.

“Then again, you’re not him anymore, are you?” Gildarts loads his gun with different bullets, taking in the other's stance while his arms turned silver in color, "And now you're gonna use magic..."

“I don’t know who you’re talking about, but I’m gonna fucking kill you either way!” His entire skin seemed to turn into metal and he charged for another attack on the gunslinger. Gildarts aims towards his target, but Levy leaped, managing to set his aim off.

“Stop!” she cried out as Gildarts noticed the vampire changing course from him to her.

“Levy, don’t-“ Gildarts was too late in warning her and he tried to act as a shield to protect her, but Gajeel managed to get a hold of her waist, lifting them both off the ground.

"LEVY!" Gildarts ran after them as Gajeel leaped over cases of books with her in hand.

"Let go!" She struggled against Gajeel's grip, hitting the arm holding her, but she felt as if she were punching metal instead of flesh.

Eventually, Gildarts caught up to them near the back of the library when a case of books fell on top of him. Trapping him there, Gajeel leaped down and laughed, slamming Levy against a wall for Gildarts to watch.

Mouthwatering from anticipation, Gajeel cried out, “MINE!” before sinking his fangs deep into his victim's neck.

Levy screamed, crying out in pain as Gildarts struggled to remove the heavy shelf off of himself. With every shout, Gajeel only sank his fangs deeper through her skin, threatening to tear out her throat if she didn't stop squirming. 

Levy's thoughts were going wild, noting that the effects of extreme blood loss were now starting to affect her and fast. Fatigue, nausea, dizziness, lightheadedness, everything started to run throughout her body. She lost the strength in her legs and the world around her started to spin. She could feel her body drooping down and they both sink against the wall. All she could hear now was his breathing. She knew that soon she would go into hypovolemic shock and following that, her immediate death.

She tried to think positively. She was sure that Lucy, Gray, and Erza would be sad over her sudden death, but she thinks that they'll forgive her. It might not have been on her terms, but Levy thought that if she were to die now, at least she would be able to meet her parents and her friends in the afterlife. Those thoughts brought a sliver of a smile onto her face.

Weakly, she raised her hand, threading her fingers through Gajeel's hair. Funny enough, she thought, the lookalike's hair felt exactly like Gajeel's did. Soft.

She squeaks out soft cries of joy, “T-Thank you... Gajeel, thank you...”

Gildarts shot the last of the wood off him, shaking the bookshelf's remains off him as he scurried to his feet. He reloads his gun and was prepared to pry the vampire's prey off when he witnessed something he thought he would never see in his lifetime.

Levy's half-lidded eyes began to glow a brilliant green and Gildarts could feel magic surging around her. The vampire's teeth still embedded in her neck, his eyes dulled and his tight grip over her arms loosened enough that she could properly move. Caressing a cheek, she whispered in a voice that was unlike her own. The exorcist watched as the vampire released the girl on command and she wiped the blood off his face, smiling as she wiped it onto his neck. In an almost motherly in a way, she kissed his forehead, whispering, “_ Humane restorare. _”

The blood dissolved into his skin, reforming a solid black ring around his neck and Gildarts felt the magic around Levy disperse. The girl lost the glow in her eyes before ultimately losing consciousness from blood loss and sunk against the wall, collapsing onto the floor. Gildarts pulled his gun away before rushing over to drag the girl away from the catatonic vampire. He assessed her condition and breathed a sigh of relief. He concluded that a lot of blood was taken out of her, but she was going to live. She was going to be good as new after a nap or two. And some juice boxes. And maybe a transfusion.

Gildarts took a look at the vampire, hovering a hand over his gun in case he would have to pull it out. He still sat there, completely motionless until the smell of blood hit his nose. In an instant, his eyes brightened a warm maroon and he released a large gasp as if he was holding his breath for too long. Unsure of where he was or what he was doing, he tried to remember something. 

“What the fuck..." the headache hit him first and then it was the overwhelming taste of metal and orange in his mouth. Reaching into his mouth, he pulled back to see his fingers coated with red. Putting one and two together, he thought out loud, "Blood?"

His gaze eventually landed on the blunette that laid unconscious next to his teacher, but he ignored him for now. Rushing over to the girl's side, he was pulled back by Gildarts, confused and angry, "Levy?! What gives, old man?!"

Gildarts was appalled. He had heard of this spell done on vampires since he was a boy, but to see it in effect was incredible. Gajeel was acting exactly as he used to before the accident claimed his human life.

"Incredible..." Gildarts let go and Gajeel rushed to picked up the girl, noting the bite marks dug into her neck.

"Levy? Hey, Lev! Levy, speak to me!" he felt a for a pulse and found one, even though it was a little weaker than he would've liked, "Hey, hey! Wake up! Levy!”

Gildarts puts his gun away once more, sighing, “You took a lot of blood out of her. I’m surprised that you didn’t kill her.”

Gajeel's eyes widened in horror, holding Levy close as if she were a porcelain doll, “K-Kill her?" the metallic orange blood swirled in his mouth, "Then this blood... I-I did this?!”

Gildarts raised an eyebrow, “Are you saying that you don’t remember?”

“OF COURSE NOT, YOU OLD GEEZER-“ Gildarts makes the decision to smack his gun over Gajeel's head, effectively knocking the boy out and watching him collapse next to the girl.

“This..." he picks up the girl and looks at the man on the floor, "Just made things more complicated.”

* * *

Somewhere deep underground where the sun would never shine, a man sat in his throne, cursing to himself as he swirled a wine glass filled with a dark red liquid. A man clad in armor rushed over to his side and delivered a message from command, "Sir, I've lost contact with Kurogane as well." the leader choked on his drink as he heard those words.

Cursing his glass, the man threw the shards across the room and howled in anger, "First, it was Salamander. Now, Kurogane has been disconnected as well?!" the soldier watched as his commander bashed his fist on the arm of his grand throne.

His commander calmed himself, watched as the wounds from the glass started to repair themselves already, "I thought those damn exorcists had been exterminated..." he sighs.

"S-Sir?" the soldier stutters.

Turning to him, he asks, "Rain Woman and Tattoo are still out investigating, correct?" and the private nods in response.

"Give them full permission to make a mess. Send a message to those exorcists. If I don't hear about a bloodbath in the human world, someone is going to lose their heads! NOW GO!" the private frantically nods and rushes out before the commander could rip his head off.

The leader now stands from his throne and begins to walk into a hall filled with dungeon-like rooms. He passes by room after room, hearing nothing but silence until he reaches a particular one at the end of the hall. Sobs are heard on the other side of this door alongside the whimpers of a young woman and the rattling of chains. The man scowls, slamming his fist against the door over and over to let her know that he was there. 

"SHUT UP IN THERE!" He screams as he heard her wails quiet.

He expected her to turn just like the other weak humans had, but she was special. The last of her kind as a human, she was the one vampire he had ever turned and couldn't control. And she was right behind that door.

He cursed once again, walking down the hall, "Zeref Dragneel... When are you coming to fetch your bitch? She's too loud!"

Nothing else mattered except for getting that boy to finally fall to the curse that he gladly put on him all those years ago. And she would be the key to it. He was going to starve her out and unleash her onto him, but at this rate, maybe she wouldn't be able to turn in time.

Nothing else matters, but he needs her. 

That boy's beloved wife: **Mavis Dragneel.**


	5. Frozen/Fear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Between Lucy not coming home from her shift and Levy's late-night library sessions, Gray and Erza split up to bring them home. On his way to find Lucy, Gray encounters a dangerous woman whom he knows all too well.

**June 8th, 2015**   
**Magnolia, Fiore**   
**Main Street, Near Fullbuster Coffee**   
**12:36 A.M.**

When Gray Fullbuster finally left the school campus for the night, he came back to the apartment to find his friend and roommate concerned for the two other girls they live with. Erza had gone off saying that this was a reasonable time for Levy to return, but Lucy hated the dark. Night shift at the shop or not, she would never walk around this town during night hours. The two had made a plan and went off across town to retrieve the girls: Erza with Levy and Gray for Lucy.

By the time Gray had crossed the street, he could see that the lights of the shops were still on. The shop was supposed to close its doors a couple of hours ago. Concerned, he began to speed walk and he felt his phone buzz in his back pocket. He checked the caller ID and it was his father. He turned it off and proceeded to go closer to the shop. His phone began to buzz again. It was his father.

“Fucking-“ Gray was annoyed. “Dad…”

Approaching the entrance to the coffee shop, he noticed that the doors were wide open. Glass from one of the windows was in pieces, scattered across the floor.

“What happened to the door…?” He lost his thought from the shock when he remembered why he was here.

“Lucy?” He called out softly, “Lucy, are you in here?”

He carefully treads across the glass-ridden floor, noticing small things like a table close to the counter was knocked over and that only one side of the serving area was messy. The store’s broom was also discarded on the ground. Lucy must’ve been sweeping up when someone came in. Gray went behind the counter and checked the back room for her. He also scoped out the bathrooms and in the supply closet just in case, but he could not find her.

“That’s so weird…” he says to himself as his phone began to buzz once more. It was his father again.

Aggravated by his father’s constant calls and the worry of his missing friend, he picked up. “What is it, Dad?” He practically shouted. “What acquires my attention so badly?”

“Gray?” Silver sounded out of breath as if he was currently running. “Where are you?”

Gray responded, checking behind the counter for anything he might have missed in his search. “Lucy didn’t come home so, Erza sent me to go find her while she gets Levy from the library.”

“Don’t tell me you’re at the shop!” His father’s voice almost raised a peg and Gray was shocked.

“Is something up?” He asked.

“No! Yes?” Silver’s out-of-breath voice was hard to interpret through the call, but Gray seemed to have understood that he was in some distress. “It’s a lot to explain and I’m in a rush, but stay there! I’m coming!”

“Dad?” Gray shouted, “Dad!” He hears beeps and pulls back his phone to see that his father had ended the call.

Frustrated, Gray slammed his phone onto his table. “What the fuck was he going on about?”

He checks his phone in case of cracks and is relieved to know that even with his anger, he didn’t have to pay to repair it. He looks around the back counter and was surprised to see that this particular object was still there.

“What the fuck?” He reaches behind some coffee bags and found a shotgun.

A time ago, he recalled from when he was younger, Silver had bought a gun and brought it to the shop. He went to Gray and explained thoroughly that this gun was not to be used under any circumstances other than for emergencies. It was a weapon and weapons kill people. Though, Gray could now argue that people could very well be weapons. He would know. He saw it-

He brushed those dark thoughts from his mind as he pulled the shotgun from its keep. “Well, the gun’s still here so-“ Gray nearly jumped when he heard the glass on the floor move. Holding the shotgun, he shouldered the gun and aimed at the front door.

“Hello?” He shouted, “Whoever you are, you better come out!”

He didn’t even realize that it had begun raining outside. He didn’t even hear it a couple of minutes ago. A chill from outside had entered through the broken window, but Gray remained focused. The cold was not a nuisance to him. He grits his teeth, ready to shout again when he heard a soft voice enter the room

“Drip, drip, drop.” It was a woman’s voice. It sounded barren but soft.  
“What the fuck?” Gray said under his breath as he noticed a figure emerging from the rain.

“It’s not often I get to eat delicious men, but I dare say that out of all the pretty men I’ve eaten over the years, you’re the prettiest by far.” He could hear her voice clearly over the rain and a figure began to appear from the darkness.

“Don’t step closer!” He sets his finger on the trigger, now aiming towards the woman walking towards him, “I will shoot!”

He heard her giggle and continue walking towards him with no hesitation. “You humans are always so funny!”  
His thoughts began to run wild. What the fuck does that mean? His hands began shaking, but he tries to remain brave and aim straight.

“I mean it!” He screams, “Get back-“

He saw her figure disappear from the rain. Even though he was shocked, he did not let this derive him from remaining vigilant. He has seen enough horror movies to know that the moments that the protagonists let their guards down-

“Aww, you got so quiet.” The woman’s voice was behind him.

-they die.

He flipped around, ready to shoot this bitch when he laid his eyes on hers. They were bright red, the color of cherries before they’re ripe. Pale skin. Soft face. Great legs. However, the thing that caught his eye about this girl- the one thing that made him almost drop his gun- was this nicely sized scar on her stomach. It seemed to be a couple of years old, judging by the different tone it gave against her skin. But the reason he knew this scar so well was because he was the one that gave it to her.

_Sophomore year. High school. He finally had his driver’s license. His father had gotten him a new car. Used, but anyway-_

_“Gray-sama!” The cheer in her voice was present._

_She looked good today, he thought. She ran up to him and gave a smile._

_“Is it your car, Gray-sama?” She admired the inside and he lets her in._

_“Sure is. Never have to worry about being late to class again!” Gray began driving down the road._

_His brain is scrambled after this part. He remembered the intersection and the van and the supply truck and the tree. He remembered a piece that he thinks is the car embedded through his abdomen. He remembered the scar that he woke up to find later at the hospital. He remembers the panic of not remembering her condition. He remembers how relieved he was when he found her still breathing. But above all else, he remembered the scar on her stomach, on that they now shared._

“J-Juvia…?” Gray dropped the gun out of instinct, but the girl in front of him laughed.

“Hmm?” She watched as this boy, this _human_, that was threatening to eradicate her existence seemed so terrified of her now, “Why are you backing away? You wanted to kill me, right?” She giggles, seeing him trip onto his ass and backed himself against the walls of the counter. “Change your mind, pretty human?”

Some tears filled his dark eyes, making them glassy. He whispered, practically choking out the words as she kneeled to make sure that they were face-to-face.

“N-No way…” She noticed that he was gripping his shirt, his breathing shaky. “Y-You can’t be Juvia… S-she's…”

“Again with that name?” The girl showed his cheek, feeling him stiffen from her touch. Her mouth watered. “Who is she? Is she an old lover of yours?” She smirks. With his panic, she could hear his heart pumping erratically, causing his blood to flow faster through his body. She was hungry. “I must look a lot like her if this lovely face brings those delectable tears to your eyes.”

He couldn’t move. He could barely control his breathing. His tears were flowing beyond his control. He grips tighter at his chest. What is wrong-

“-With me?” He managed to choke out these words and she looked confused.

“Hmm?” She noticed something strange.

For as long as she could remember, the Rain Woman always had a particular type of human she loved consuming. She loved men, beautiful ones. These men were usually young and fit and had a lone wolf demeanor. She never understood why she loved these kinds of food the most. Perhaps the lone wolf trait did something to their blood when they’re in fear that she loved. Or perhaps it would be those occasions where she’d fuck herself onto her victim before killing them. But he was different. As much as she enjoyed his fear and hatred and tears, something hurt. It was a small tinge of pain, located on the scar on her stomach. She didn’t know where she got this scar. It was the one thing she could not remember about her life, but the fact that this human was staring straight at it made her curious.

“Are you interested, human?” She pulls off her half jacket, exposing her bra and the rest of her upper body. “My skin is flawless except for this one spot. Even I don’t remember how I got it-“

“Car crash.” He answered with a shaky breath, “T-The tree, it…”

“Oh?” She had a thought. “What makes you say that?”

“I-I…” she could feel his panic and it was all the more delicious.

This human was interesting. She wondered that if maybe her superiors would let her keep a pet. She enjoyed his reactions. She didn’t want to let him go yet. At least, not until she grows bored with him.

“You know, I never do this, little human.” She stands up, licking her lips. “Normally, I’d kill you and eat you up. Maybe I’d even you fuck me first, but I’m intrigued. I’d like to make you an offer.”

“W-What?” He seemed to have grounded himself and she sets herself onto his lap. “I want to keep you.”

“Excuse me?” His shaky gaze was beginning to harden as she placed her hands onto his cheeks.

“I’ve never met a human like you. Sure, I’ve eaten your type, all cool-headed and alone, but you’re different. You have a stronger scent than the others.” She proceeds to gently pull his head to the side as he remained petrified, giggling a little. “Oh, you smell so good! So minty and fresh! You might be my new favorite of those boys.”

Gray couldn’t move. Nothing made sense. _This_ doesn’t make sense. This woman on top of him looks exactly like her and it wasn’t just that. Everything from her skin to her eyelashes reminded him of her. Of Juvia. Her voice, while brash and slutty, sounded exactly like her. And these thoughts alone were driving him insane. Her screams still drive him insane.

He still remembers how he lost her.

_He recalled the blood first. The smell was overwhelming. He watched one of his best friend’s neck be ripped into before the carnage had begun. Juvia, wearing the loose summer dress he had bought for her for that trip, was shivering next to him. He wanted them to live. If anything, he wanted her to live._

_Noticing one of those creatures distracted at the front, Gray grabbed her wrist and shouted, “Come on!”_

_The two took off, her staggering behind him._

_“Gray-sama, Juvia’s wearing heels!” He heard her shout as they made it to the front of the bus to get the door open._

_“I don’t give a shit-“ he heard her scream. “JUVIA!”_

_He watched as one of the grotesque arms from those caped creeps emerged from the crowd and grabbed at her hair. She was pulled out of his grip and he watched her get dragged back a little._

_“Ow!” She cried out, trying to fight against the thing pulling her back. She reached out an arm and cried out, “Gray-sama!”_

_He panicked, reaching out an arm to grab hers. “Hold on-“_

_Blood flashed before his eyes. It was all too fast for him to notice, but all the sounds around him began to die out as something landed on the ground next to him. He looked down and nearly blew his entire stomach. It was an arm. Her arm._

_“J-Juvia?!” Tears burned at his eyes as he now saw the stump where her hand used to be._

_“G-GRAY-!” The sound of her voice was quieted as he heard her choke on her blood, watching as her throat had been sliced open. Blood spurt out, covering the floor and his face. As her body was dragged away into the masses of the monsters, he noticed something. He could taste it. Her blood. And he couldn’t understand why he could identify the faintest hint of watermelon in it. Or why he wanted more. Or why his throat became so dry all of a sudden-_

_“GRAY!”_

He grits his teeth.

“How dare you…” he grips one of his fists as he felt her hands begin to go around his neck, “Imitate her?”

“Excuse me-“ with her focused solely on him, she never noticed that he had managed to grab the shotgun and bash the side of her head with it.

She was knocked off and he scrambled to stand again. Shotgun in hand, he jumped over the counter and cocked the gun. He heard her growl inhumanely as he saw her stand, eyes crimson and angry.

“Eat lead!” He fired, seeing the pellets shoot straight to her face, knocking her back against the walls.

He was almost proud of himself, thinking that the headshot would at least slow this imposter down a little for him to getaway. Gray took off, passing the glass-shattered windows of the shop as he sped down in the rain.

“You bastard!” He could hear her scream and the spastic speeding of her footsteps down the street. “You shot me!”

“How the fuck are you still alive?“ He found the corner of main and turned to face her once more, shotgun ready. The rain was blocking the sound and he couldn’t see her anywhere. “There’s no way this bitch can be human-“

“You’re right, doll.” He heard her behind him and he tried to flip the gun on her, but she knocked the shotgun out of his hands. He then proceeded to punch him in the gut and it felt like being hit with lead.

He fell to his knees and his stomach finally couldn’t take it. The taste of acid spread through his mouth as the last of his lunch and the entirety of his dinner was revolted onto the ground. He supposed that the only good part about this seemingly never-ending rain was that at least his bile would wash away faster.

“You BASTARD!” She gripped at the collar of his jacket and lifted him without any struggle. He could find a little injury on her face, but her crooked expression made him realize that he was going to die now. “HOW DARE YOU SHOOT MY FACE!”

The imposter threw Gray into a wall hard enough to create a divot into the foundation. He screamed, feeling something crack in his body. Knocked out cold, he flopped lifelessly onto the ground, his eyes wide and white.

“Oops…” the rain woman walked over to him and kneeled, petting his head for a moment, “I think I overdid it.”

She giggled, flipping him onto his back. “At least his pretty face is still intact.” She sighs. “But I wanted him to be aware of his death. Oh well!”

She bares her fangs, ripping open his shirt. “Bottom’s up-“

She is hit in the face again with his own. “Oof! Hey!” She watches as he sits upon the drenched ground. “I thought I-“

She is hit with an overwhelming smell. That hint of mint that he was emitting before was more pungent and getting stronger by the second.

“This scent…” she knew as well as every other vampire that humans could not produce a strong scent due to their weak blood. Exorcists could produce a stronger smell due to the magic in their blood, but still not something as strong as this. This scent was on the level of one of here superiors: a demon.

“W-What are you?” She jumped away, feeling threatened by his aura. “You’re not human! You can’t be! How can a weak human like you have this kind of aura?” She watched as this human stood, his body language cold and lifeless. She then noticed that his eyes were white. He was still unconscious, but something is driving him to move.

“What is this…” she could say that up till now, she had never been afraid of creatures weaker than her. But this was different. A human with an aura of a demon. It was unheard of unless-

“No way! Are you him? Are you that child of prophecy?” She pulled herself into a guarded stance as he leaped into the air, “You’re Citizen V, aren’t you?!”

“_Frozna_.” his voice was cold as he landed in front of her and grabbed her arm. She felt the air around her drop in temperature before realizing that the rain around her was starting to freeze. She was simultaneously frozen in a large block of ice, leaving her head and the arm he was still grabbing exposed.

She was a vampire. She could not feel the heat or the cold, but at this moment, she saw an icy breath emerge from his lips and felt a chill go down her spine. She could feel the ice around her body, burning onto her skin. She tried to stop the rain, but the rain kept going.

“C-Cold…” his grip was getting stronger around her wrist and she nearly winced in pain, the rain hitting her skin beginning to freeze. “N-Need to… M-Move…”

She was going to die. And by a human’s hands no less. How humiliating, she thought.

“_Juvia…_ _But also not Juvia…_” that inhuman voice seemed to be looping another as if there was someone other than himself inside of him. “_Juvia’s dead…_” his hand was no on her neck, squeezing “_Will not… Forgive anyone… Who imitates a dead girl… My girl… My Juvia!_”

“GRAY, STOP!” The scream made the boy pause and in an instant, the chill vanished.

Running down the other side of Main was Silver Fullbuster, who had finally found his son. Not in the best condition, but Gray being alive was enough. He noticed the ice coating the ground and the rain clouds beginning to disperse, revealing the moon. His son seemed a little dazed, but Gray seemed to regain his sense of self. Silver sighed, careful of slipping on the ice. His expression turned serious and he had a thought about something he hadn’t thought of in years. He tried to shake this thought off though. There was time for that later. The girl frozen in the block was released and the ice began to melt away.

Confused and chilly, Gray turned to meet his father’s gaze. “Dad?”

“Gray, how did you…” Silver watched the vampire woman reach out an arm and he screamed, “GRAY!”

He ran towards them, but could only witness as the girl wrapped her arm around Gray’s neck and pulled him towards her. She bared her fangs and viciously tore into his neck, threatening to tear his muscles if he struggled.

His screams were horrible to hear. Silver hadn’t recalled these kinds of screams since the day Gray’s mother and his beloved had passed.

Silver was an exorcist, but he was not magically inclined. He knew that if he approached the female any further, she’d kill her prey. However, he can’t just let Gray get devoured either. He felt useless. This was Mika all over again. Then he sensed magic. Quickly lifting his head, he watched as the woman and his son were silent, her still holding him. Then he noticed his eyes.

Gray’s eyes were blue as the azure sky, illuminating in the darkness. The vampire stuck onto his neck had muddied eyes now, seems to be somewhere else mentally.

“_Respa._” she did as she was told and released her firm grip from his flesh.

Her back hit the wall and he led them both down so they could sit together.

Brushing his fingers against his wound, he rubbed some of his blood onto his hand. He smirks, wiping the blood onto her neck before whispering, _“Humane restorae.”_

The blood vanished into her skin before a black band appeared around her neck. A moment later, Gray’s eyes ceased their glow and he collapsed into her arms.

“How…?” Silver was a little alarmed, but he didn’t seem too surprised, given his son’s lineage.

The girl’s nose twitched, picking up the soft scent of mint before her muddied red eyes became a bright ocean blue.

“Hmm? How did Juvia get here?” Juvia blinked in confusion, meeting Silver’s awed gaze. “Oh! Silver-san? Why is Silver-san looking at Juvia that way?“

“How is this possible?” Silver muttered to himself as he kneeled before the two.

“Juvia is confused…” she tried to get up, but she felt something heavy on her.

“Hmm?” Looking at her legs, she saw the unconscious figure of her lover, Gray.

“GRAY-SAMA?!” She screeched, “Oh no! Gray-sama is bleeding! Why is Gray-sama bleeding?” She started to spastically freak, noticing a little of the blood splatter on her clothes, which she didn’t remember ever putting on. “Silver-san! We have to call an ambulance! Gray-sama could-“

Silver used the back of his knife to hit the back of her neck, knocking her out before she could make any more noise in the early morning hours. Collapsing onto Gray, Juvia was breathing softly as she curled her arms around his head, caressing him.

“This is…” Silver put away his knife and sighed, “Shit.”


	6. Scarlet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Between Lucy not coming home from her shift and Levy's late-night library sessions, Gray and Erza split up to bring them home. On her way to the library to retrieve Levy, Erza comes across a handsome stranger, but something about him seems similar and wrong...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ITS FINALLY DONE TUT
> 
> im suffering cause of school and the pandemic, but I hope you guys will enjoy the new and improved jerza chapter!!

**June 8th, 2015**   
**Magnolia, Fiore**   
**Magnolia Park, just a block from Magnolia Library**   
**12:37 A.M.**

After parting ways at the apartment, Erza found herself to be a little annoyed.

“Dammit. I never thought I’d have to worry about her." she crossed the desolate street, checking at her watch and knowing full well that it was past time for the library to close. "Lucy and Gray, sure. But Levy?”

She sighs, “All this is going to give me a headache.”

Minding another street, she crossed with ease. She could see the building now over the overwhelming amount of trees that surround the town square. The library's lights were off from what she could tell. If she was lucky, she'd find Levy either curled up in a chair still or sitting on the staircase waiting for her. She looked towards the sidewalk surrounding the square and noted that the foot traffic was still busy with some leftover stragglers, drunks, and the homeless. She sighs once more. “I’ll have to take the shortcut through the park.”

She began her descent through the wooded park, looking around at the trees beginning to change their colors. Leaves crunch under her boots and a chilly breeze hit her back. The fall was beginning to creep upon them. She was glad that she remembered to put on a scarf before she left.

“It’s gotten a lot colder now,” she notes, "I'll have to remind the others to take their winter clothes out of storage soon."

It was a tranquil walk. It was not often that Erza got to take the leisure to relax since she had so much going on at home and school. She remarked on how even though she went through such a terrible event in recent years, her work ethic and personality remained intact. She even notes that her hair has returned to the original length it was at prior. She thinks about cutting it again. She hates her red hair.

When she spots the library, a smile broke out on her face. Between the time and the chilliness, she was ready to grab her friend and have them both retreat back to the warmth of their apartment. “The library!”

She began to jog a little, seeing the building emerge out of the trees a little faster. She wants to go back to the apartment and out of this darkness. The night sky haunts her. Everything about this place haunts her. Her hair even haunts her still, a continuous reminder of how she's still alive. And how he's dead-

She shook her head. No point in thinking over the dead now. There was someone else to worry over right now. She can think of him and the others later.

"I swear, this is the last time I let Levy be stay closing. I can't even imagine how the librarian is dealing with her..." Erza sighs, thinking out loud as she found herself close to the staircase. Then she heard screaming. She knew that scream. After all the nightmares and the panic attacks she had witnessed, how could she not?

"LEVY!" Erza began to dash up the staircase, following the terrified cries of the girl inside.

She gets to the front door, seeing Levy being chased by a mass of black. She furiously jiggled the door handles, but they were locked. As much as she didn't want to, she began to frantically search for something to break the glass. She needs to unlock the door.

“Well, this is unexpected." Erza suddenly flipped around, viewing a man on the staircase, "I never expected anyone, least of all a human, to pass through my barrier."

She wished that she had her practice sword right now. She supposed that pepper spray had to be enough to ward off any creeps right now. "Who are you?”

“How annoying..." the man sighs, his face twisting with irritation, "I know that I've been rusty as of late, but enough as to where a simple human girl can get past me. However...” in an instant, the man appeared right in front of her, observing her in what almost seemed to be amusement. “You can see and hear me. Not even that moron or his food can hear me right now. There's no way that a human could get through my perception.”

“How the hell-“ Erza had no time to react when the man grabs her throat, silencing her before she could get another word out.

“Foolish human.” He was annoyed now, gritting his teeth and allowed her to see his sharpened canines and his luminescent red eyes, “Know your place.”

Reaching into her coat pocket, she managed to grab her pepper spray. Without a word, she viciously sprayed into her assailant’s eyes, making him cry out. He ends up swinging her down the staircase, rubbing his eyes before watching her tumble until she was at the bottom. He could smell the blood in the air.

Erza sat up, noting that her hands were now a little beaten up from covering her face in the fall, a knuckle sprouting blood. She had to find her bag and call the police. She had to find a way to help Levy. She had to find her bag-

She leaps for the vermillion handbag on the walkway when the fanged man stepped on her hand. Erza’s hand trapped, she felt her chin be pulled up by this man and she now could see hardened red eyes and flashes of the nightmares danced across her vision. Red eyes. And fangs. And all the blood.

She wasn’t sure why tears began to pierce her vision. Was it because of the wind continuing to nip at her face or the fact that she could recognize this man?

“I know you…” she whispered. This didn’t bring any reaction to him from what she could see on his face, but he lifted his foot from her hand. And then proceeded to kick her in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her.

Skidding across the walkway, she coughed, trying to hold back the urge to empty her stomach. She heard him walking towards her and she began to frantically scurry up. She had to run and call help somewhere! She needs to live! Because she needs to help him-

Erza got a better look at this man’s face. Red eyes aside, he was attractive. Pale, thin but not skinny. Toned most likely. Blue hair, blue as the azure sky, and a fluffy mess of curls. There was an intricate tattoo on one side of his side, covering from his forehead to his chin. But something clicked inside her.

“I know I do!” She shouted, trying to assure that the two have met before.

He paused, clearly confused, but still had an annoyed expression on his face, “Believe me when I say that you and I have never met before.”

“Indulge me." Erza managed to get to her feet when she saw her attacker come a little closer to her. She now saw a suit of bronze armor and a black cloak covering his shoulders. She chuckles softly, "I knew it. I’ve seen your kind once before. You are the reason all my friends are dead.”

The man chuckled now, “I don’t recall ever killing someone so low on the food chain like you. I will say though…" he stepped closer and was now close enough to brush a strand of hair from her face, stealing her breath away, "That scarlet hair is tantalizing.”

“What?" she froze, eyes widening, "What did you say?”

“Hmm?" he raised an eyebrow, cocky smile on his lips, "Did I hit a nerve?”

“Just answer the question!” she demanded and the man had the nerve to laugh. Normally, humans were paralyzed with fear in his presence, but this human was not. He could smell no fear and not even a tinge of despair- Nothing! He decided to indulge her.

“Your hair." he threaded his fingers through her hair, feeling her shiver, "I only observed its color. A scarlet red.”

The gears in her head began to turn. The haze covering her memories were beginning to expose themselves and the images she locked away in her heart was beginning to resurface, “Your face and scarlet..."

_Sitting alone with just the two of them in the room filled wall to wall with bunk beds, the boy brushed away the girl's hair of tangles. They were making small talk, especially since she was still new to the orphanage and didn't remember her past very well. The boy, who seemed to be the de facto leader of the children here (seeing as every time they spoke, they listened and respected him), was trying to help her remember simple things. He managed to help her remember her first name, which was a wonderful name in his eyes: Erza._

_"I like Erza. What about your family name?" he asks._

_She gave a small puzzled look before answering, "I don't know my family name. I think I'm just Erza..." _

_"Oh." the boy paused his brushing for a second before moving onto the other side, "How about I come up with one?"_

_He felt her jump a little from excitement, "Really?"_

_"Yeah! Just lemme think..." putting down the brush, he threads his fingers through her hair. And then it hit him, "Scarlet..."_

_"Scarlet?" she asks, peeking her head around._

_"Uh-huh! Erza Scarlet. Just like the color of your hair." she blushes as he continued to gently thread fingers through her hair, "That way, even if we get adopted and don't see each other for a while, I'll see your hair and I'll never forget it!"_

_"Okay! And you can be Blueberry!" she giggles, thinking about the color of his hair, causing him to laugh._

_"I have a family name, Erza!" she turned her head around and saw him smile, "It's Fernandez. Jellal Fernandez."_

Tears filled her eyes as the memory of the boy she grew up and eventually fell in love with crossed her mind. She hadn't thought of him in years. She had nearly forgotten what he looked like until now. This man, this cruel man now looked so familiar. It was a terrifying thought.

"That can’t be…" she wanted to run, but his body was pinning her to the wall, "But I saw you!"

Past the pleasant memories of her childhood with him were the horrid delusions that she had locked away. Those memories were creeping back with the intent of dragging her back to the dark. Flashes of blood danced across her vision and the images of him and his hollow eyes made her want to scream.

"Y-Your eyes were… No…" she dared to reach a hand up to his face, seeing him just as confused as she was, "Jellal…”

The hand in her hair quickly left to snatch her wrist and his red eyes narrowed, “What was that name again?”

“Are you telling me that you don’t remember me?” she saw him flash his fangs before throwing her to the ground once more.

“No! I don’t!" he snarled, "I’m not a human unlike you!”

She grits her teeth, daring to look up as he stomped his way to her with the intent to finish what he started, “Then why do you look so much like him? Sure, the tattoo is new, but I know my love anywhere!”

The memory of that horrible day began to play in her head. Her mind cleared, she recalled-

_“Jellal? What is going on?” Erza was disturbed to hear the horrid screams of her friends and classmates after dozing off on the bus._

_Jellal was just as panicked as she was, frantically looking for some kind of escape in this bloodbath, “I can’t explain! Just know that we’ve gotta get out of here!”_

_“But the others- MIRA!” _ _Erza flipped around, hearing Mirajane's cries. Erza nearly jumped with the only thing holding her back being Jellal's iron grip on her hand. And to her horror, she saw the girl's neck be snapped like a chicken bone and ripped into by monstrous teeth. Blood spurted onto some already bloodsoaked seats and spilled onto the ground. Erza began sobbing when Jellal quickly pulled her back. _

_“We can’t save her! We don’t have time!" Jellal needed her to stop panicking, but she couldn't. He shook her shoulders, watching her freeze, "Erza, look at me!”_

_She looked into his hazelnut brown eyes and took a shaky breath, “Jellal…”_

_“We can still save the others, but only if we escape." he tried to whisper, looking over her shoulder to see some of the creatures were distracted, "Now, come on! Help me with this latch!”_

_He turned to an emergency window next to their seats, “Pull!"_

_With their combined strength, they easily prevailed, opening the hatch and slowly opening it, "Okay, it’s done!”_

_“Careful." Jellal carefully lifts the heavy window open, taking her hand, "I’ll hold this up.”_

_She nods and makes the careful climb out of the bus. Once she landed, she looked up at him, preparing to also help him down, “Alright, I’m down-" she felt hairs stand up on her neck as Jellal began his descent, "WAIT!”_

_As she screamed, Jellal noticed the swarm of creatures beginning to surround their place on the bus. And he then felt sharp nails embed themselves into his back. He screamed and he grits his teeth, feeling the claws grab his hair, forcing him to look at her. She was armed with a shard of broken glass, effectively cutting her hand and one of her shoes._

_"ERZA, RUN!" he screamed as he felt the claws slowly climbing up his back._

_Throwing one of her shoes, she managed to distract one of the creatures long enough to allow her to run. One of the creatures grabbed onto her hair and she cried out, _ _“JELLAL!”_

_“ERZA SCARLET, RUN-” his screams began to voice as she saw claws digging into his face, cutting his eyes before gouging them out completely. Laughter filled the air as she grits her teeth, tears in her eyes. She gripped the shard of glass and thrust it through her hair. Locks of scarlet hair covered the asphalt as she began to dash down the hill and into the forest, choppy hair following her wake._

_Her lungs, her calves, and even her eyes were burning as she ran, trying to wipe away tears that couldn't stop rushing from her eyes, “I can’t die here! I have to save him and everyone else-“_

_She heard screams echo from the woods. Distracted, she didn't notice a significantly sized rock and tripped. She tumbled down the hill, hitting more rocks and other kinds of rubble before landing at the bottom and crashing into the trunk of an old tree. Head bruised and bloody, she had spots of black that were slowly eating up her vision._

_ “J-Jellal…” she managed to choke out before the concussion completely consumed her consciousness._

“You can’t be… I saw you!" her tears were pouring out, "You were dead! Your eyes were gone… I saw them get carved out your skull like an animal! A-And I…" she slammed her fist onto the ground, "I ran like a coward.”

The vampire chuckles, stepping towards her, “So, you’re giving up your life, human?”

“No way!" she sits up, eyes bright, "I have to make sure that Levy is okay-"

A blatant scream came from the main entrance of the library, turning her blood cold, "That came from the library!" she began to scramble up the steps, "LEVY!”

“Damn it, Kurogane." the vampire was even more annoyed now, "I have to clean up your mess too.”

Reaching the top of the stairs, she sees the petite girl through the glass door, but for some reason, Levy could not see her. The girl was afraid, sprits of bloodstains covered her frame, but she viewed no injuries on her and was relieved in that case. Erza tries to pry open the door, but she still couldn't get it to budge even a little.

Erza slams on the door, desperate for the other girl to be able to hear her, “Levy! Hold on, I’m coming!”

“I told you that they can't see or hear us right now.” the vampire sighs with annoyance. Approaching the redhead, he grabbed her arm, "Stop resisting and forfeit your life already, human-"

“Get off, jerk!” Erza jerked, smashing her elbow into the man's face, shocking him enough to let her go and kick him back towards the steps.

He catches his balance before he could fall down the stairs, but he was appalled, filled with silent rage, “She hit me." his eyes flared a vicious red, "No one ever does that.”

“Levy! Ugh, not you again!" the vampire flash-stepped, grabbing the redhead before yanking her away from the doors, "Get off of me!”

“You’re going to pay for this, human." the man grabbed her chin, forcing their eyes to meet, "Blood Art: Possession.”

His eyes glowed for a moment, but he was once again appalled when he saw no change in her rebelling behavior. She grits her teeth, spitting in his face before he threw her to the ground. She sat up and chuckled smugly, “Is that supposed to scare me or something?”

“How can this be?" the vampire hissed, "You’re only a human! No human can oppose my blood art!”

“Look, I don't care, whoever you are! You're crazy-“ Erza shouts when the man began to laugh.

“This is unprecedented. There are only three people that can resist my power and you are neither my creator, my master nor my mate.” the vampire enjoyed the confused look on her face.

“What the hell are you-“ she tried to look for the opportunity to run back to help Levy once more when he flash-stepped once more, grabbing her by her long scarlet hair and forced her onto the ground.

“STOP IT!” her hands clawed against the grip to her scalp, but he continued to laugh.

“I have to kill you before you confuse me any longer.” lifting her, he snatched her neck and bit into her flesh.

Erza screamed, struggling as the man bit harder into her skin. He was much too heavy to push off and he had an iron grip on her scalp. The redhead ceased her clawing against the hand in her hair and tried to go for a vulnerable spot, such as the eyes or the neck. Then, the hand on the back of her throat grabbed her by the wrists and pinned them above her head. The redhead felt small tears form. The sense of fear began to seep through her body, making her choke.

“I can’t die here. I’ve already lived through something worse than this… Worse than you!” she screamed, her tears burning.

Levy's cries were quiet. Erza wondered if she was too late. She was worried about Lucy and Gray. Of course, even at a time where her own life was at stake, she was worried about others. She wished that she could've thought like that for Jellal. She wished that she could've just figured out a way to get them out. Or at least him. He didn't deserve the fate he was delivered.

_"Erza Scarlet! Just like the color of your hair!"_

The flash of the young boy with fluffy blue hair and warm brown eyes flashed across her mind. She wondered if he was waiting for her on the other side. She wanted to join him, her late parents, the ones she never got to meet, maybe even the childhood friends she had lost over the years. And yet...

“I-I don't want to die here…" her vision was beginning to get spotty before her eyes fixed themselves on the moon, shining brilliantly above them, "Jellal...”

Even in the thoughts, she believed were to be her last, her will to live was strong. And in these moments, a brilliant magical power began to burst.

One of Erza's eyes began to glow yellow, flaring as if flames were ignited inside it. She looks down, viewing the fluffy blue hair and petting it gently.

"_Jellal. Respa._" on command, the vampire released his hold over her, his chin covered in blood and his eyes muddled. The redhead sat up, chuckling softly as she caressed one of his cheeks holding a branding that stretched over his eye. She grit her teeth, speaking in an angered disembodied voice, "_Demonios merde._"

He gave no response and she calmed, taking a drop of her blood on his face and drew a line over his neck.

"_Humane restorae,_" she said and the blood dissolves into his skin, forming a solid black ring around his neck. As soon as that was accomplished, Erza's eyes lost their glow and the dizziness she felt before hit her with full force, knocking her into the other's chest.

The tap caused the man to pull focus, his eyes quickly leaving the bloodied haze and turn into a warm brown. He was a little disoriented himself, shaking his head, "How did I... Get here..." he notices the fur alining his neck, leading to a cape and some armored shoulder pads, "And what the hell am I wearing-"

When he noticed the weight, he realized that the lady was lying halfway unconscious, breath drawing out heavily, "Erza!" he shakes her a little, but he receives no reaction, "Hey, Erza! Are you okay?" he tries shaking her again, his panic and confusion rising, "Erza, wake up!"

Lifting his hands from her, he realized that there was a wound on her neck. Blood covered his hands and his pants. He cautiously reached up with his cape to wipe off the blood and found that in wiping his face, there was a significant amount there as well, "H-Hey, how did this blood get there?"

His mind was beginning to swirl. How did he get here? Why can't he remember how he got here, dressed so strangely in the middle of the night with his childhood friend and girlfriend bleeding out on him?

"Erza!" a shout from a familiar voice brought his attention to the top of the staircase, seeing two men, one much older than the other. One had a gun in a holster and the other was wearing some strange white robes. They looked familiar-

"Shit!" the two men reached the top and saw him in his condition. The taller man, who had slicked-back orange hair and a beard forming over his face, reached for his gun, "They got here before us!"

"I know that voice." Jellal whispered, his fuzzy memories coming back to him about a drunkard girl's father and the dean, "And your faces...!" he realized, "Gildarts-san!"

The taller man was shocked enough that he paused in taking out his gun. The vampire looked to the shorter man, much older and balding his white hair, but he still held just as much ferocity as the other, "Makarov-sensei!"

"Well, this certainly is interesting." the older man, one Makarov Dreyar, knew that vampires had a mission to exterminate the last survivors, but even in the briefing with the other leaders, no one could've predicted this, "You remember your name?"

"Huh?" the vampire was confused.

"You called me Makarov-sensei." the older man says.

"D-Don't you recognize me? I'm your student, Jellal-" a scream from the doors of the library interrupted him, making him freeze in place.

"I'm running ahead! You handle him!" Gildarts took off for the entrance and Makarov slowly walked his way over to Jellal.

"M-Makarov-sensei, pardon my vulgarity, but what the fuck is going on?! Why can't I remember anything? How did I get here? In these clothes and Erza-" the vampire was too busy panicking to notice that the man had gone up to Erza and enveloped her head in a golden light. Jellal held the redhead, amazed by the sense of purity in the air. The glow ceased and Jellal discovered that the vicious wound over her neck had vanished.

"H-How did you-"

"You remember your name?" Makarov asked.

"Yes. Of course, I do. It's Jellal Fernandez, class 4-B, vice president of the student council." Jellal said and the older man nods.

"I see. This truly is interesting. I'm nearly eighty years old and to this day, I've never seen it work." Makarov pat Erza's head, a smile on his face, "Erza Scarlet, you possess a rare gift."

"Makarov-sensei, please. What is happening to me?" Jellal begged.

"It's not the question of _what_, but of _what has already happened_. It's much to explain, but here this: there is only one spell in exorcist lore that could allow a vampire to remember their true name."

"D-Did you just say, vampire?!" Jellal nearly shrieked and Erza groaned in his arms.

Makarov noticed the girl's condition and said, "Jellal-kun, take Erza, and please follow me. I understand that you have questions, but I know she needs medical treatment. And I imagine that she will also have many questions when she awakens."

"...I don't seem to have any other choice at the moment." Jellal agrees, lifting Erza into a princess hold and noted that she was light. Extremely light. Now, he knew that he was no bodybuilder, but he worked out enough to be in shape. He was nowhere in the condition to lift a whole human without any repercussions though.

"Good." Makarov grins, looking towards the entrance to the library, "But first, something tells me that Erza isn't the only one bringing home a guest tonight."


	7. Break It Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the aftermath of the miraculous taming, the leaders of the local exorcist guild explain everything to the four and to who they used to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was I listening to Promare and BNA while writing this? Absolutely.
> 
> I normally don't do this but, shout out to Tellescora! You've been here since the first rendition and you're still here! You really got my butt moving to finally finish this and you were so sweet, thanks a lot!
> 
> But without further ado, please enjoy!

**June 8th, 2015  
** **Magnolia, Fiore  
The Fairy Tail Exorcist Guild Headquarters**  
**4:05 a.m.**

Lucy looked at Zeref, a little confused before asking, “Who?”

The young man, Zeref, opens the door to the guild infirmary, hearing small steps descending the stairs, “The others are grabbing your friends. I suspect that Natsu is not the only one that will appear tonight…”

"Huh?! I mean, I knew the others were coming, but right now?" Lucy shot up, rushing to Zeref's side at the door.

At the foot of the stairs, Silver had arrived, carrying his son and a familiar blue-haired girl on his shoulders.

"If you don't mind giving me a hand here, Zeref?" Silver chuckles, nearly dropping Gray on his head before Zeref ran over to him and alleviating him of the girl. 

"Gray!" Lucy rushed over when Silver placed Gray onto a bed sitting in the wall, assessing his condition one more time. The mark in his neck was healing a lot better than he thought.

"He'll be fine. Just needs to recharge." Silver insists as Zeref carried the girl into the infirmary and Lucy got a better look at her. It was Juvia! But didn’t Gray say that she was missing an arm?! And what was with the slutty outfit?!

She nearly screamed, "Holy shit-"

"After seeing my brother, you shouldn't be too surprised." Zeref interrupted.

"Well, I'm sorry for not being used to seeing dead people!" Lucy shouted, a little embarrassed, “Last time I saw any of them was when they were being butchered alive so, excuse me for being a little shocked-“

Not too far behind Silver, Gildarts rushed in carrying both the petite Levy and the overwhelming mass that was Gajeel on his shoulders. Both were unconscious. Behind him were Makarov and Jellal, carrying Erza.

"Zeref, we need blood bags!" Gildarts proceeded to drop Gajeel without hesitation, awaking the vampire upon impact with a scream.

"OW!" Gajeel grabs at his head, "That hurt, you bastard!"

Gildarts ignored Gajeel's angered shout and proceeded to rush Levy onto a bed in the infirmary.

”You didn’t close up the wound?!” Zeref screamed, noting the gash surrounding her throat as if she were mangled by an animal.

”I was carrying her and that oaf _and _I can’t use magic unlike you Mr. I-Have-So-Many-Black-Trenchcoats-In-Order-To-Be-Edgy! Just help me attach the IV before she starts going into hemorrhagic shock!” Gildarts fumbled with the IV tube, “WHERE ARE MY BLOOD BAGS?!”

Makarov rushed into the infirmary, holding all the bags before Zeref began hanging them up and the three began to work fixing up the girl. Jellal also placed Erza in a bed, noting that also Gray, Juvia, and Natsu were here too.

"I don't understand..." Jellal walks back to the room where Gajeel grumbled to himself while rubbing his head and Lucy was having a silent existential crisis. He chooses to speak to Lucy.

"Lucy?" he touches her shoulder and nearly jumped, shocking the two of them.

"I-I'm sorry." she grabs at her arm, feeling the bandages that cover her wound, "I'm sure you two are very confused. Believe me, so am I."

Gajeel growling, stomped into the infirmary, ”Can somebody explain what the fuck is going on-“ 

“Shut up.” The cold glare of Natsu Dragneel sitting in a bed stopped his rampage. Lucy knew that tone and turned to see the pink-haired man sitting up in his bed. 

”Dragneel?” Gajeel backed up as Natsu, with eyes that flared red, ran up to the door and forced him out.

”You’re too damn noisy, Redfox.” Natsu slammed the door just as a smirk emerged on his face, “You want me to kick your ass again?”

”Woah, Natsu! Chill out, man!” Gajeel could practically feel the bloodthirst coming off of him when Lucy pushed him out of the way.

”Natsu, stop it! That’s enough!” She grabbed his cheeks and forced him to look her in the eye, “No need to act tough anymore. You’re okay now.”

Natsu growled a little before taking a breath, the blood in his eyes disappearing into his green irises.

”Lucy...” Natsu dug his face into her neck, wrapping his arms around her waist and trying to remember her smell. She pets his head, noting that the soft pink spikes were still the same.

Don’t get her wrong, she was still panicking about the whole ‘I saw my boyfriend die but he’s not dead anymore’ shit and all the bullshit about exorcists and vampires, but she was also rational enough to understand that panicking leads to nothing but trouble. Once she calmed Natsu down, she looked at Gajeel and Jellal and said, “It’s been a long time, you two.”

”Long time?” Jellal rubbed at his headache, “We saw each other yesterday, didn’t we?”

”I’m afraid it’s been a lot longer since yesterday...” Lucy felt Natsu hold tighter to her waist, “Three years, give or take.”

”Three years?! That can’t be right! I remember us going to that bastard’s history class yesterday!” Gajeel pointed star the door where Gildarts was heard making stupid distress noises.

”Yes, and that happened nearly three years ago!” Lucy screams, “Why can’t any of you remember the fact that you all died?!”

That was the thought that silenced the whole room. Gajeel stood wide-eyed at her, his hands shaking a little.

”I-Is that why my heart isn’t beating?” Gajeel asked, almost in denial, “I thought that was weird... The moment I woke up, I didn’t feel how cold it was outside and now that I think about it...” he placed his hand on his chest, “It’s not beating... M-My heart...”

"I know... A-And I'm sure that Zeref and the others will explain it to us soon..." Lucy felt Natsu lift his head, looking at the other two as they had looks that just screamed crisis.

"Lucy," he says and she looks into his eyes, seeing a plea for help. She nods and releases him. Natsu proceeds to walk up to them and says, "We died. Twice really. And I know you two don't remember and frankly, I don't remember much myself, but I do know this..."

He turned to Lucy, "This won't be the last that you'll see monsters like us. Monsters with the faces of those you used to know."

* * *

On the stone-cold floor laid a young woman in chains, above a puddle of tears muddled with blood. She was curled up in a ball, wrapping her marked-covered arms around her stomach. Her blonde hair was dry and long, much too long and matted, but she was glad because in case someone came in, they wouldn't see her tears. Her throat was so dry. She coughed, choking on tears as she tried to sit up, but the muscles in her arms were much too weak. As a result, she fell back to the ground again. Her wrists were chained to a wall and she could not escape. She had no strength to spare. Her green eyes were blank. The tears kept falling to the ground, adding to the evergrowing puddle under her.

"Zera..." a name whispered from her lips, "Zera, my baby..."

Her stomach growled and her cries turned into roars. Her eyes burned red as she tried to rid of the hunger growing inside her. She hesitated, but held out her arm and bit into it, drinking her blood to try to temp her anguish. She was disgusted by the taste but, it was the only way to make the growls go away for now. The young woman could not do much. Other than the daily deposits of blood packets that were neglected by the door, she wasn't acknowledged. However, when she sobbed too loud, someone would come to slam the door, quieting her cries out of fear.

She looked to the pile that continued to grow in the corner, blood packets toppling over each other. Her stomach growled again, but she had to ignore it. She had to refuse all the blood that was thrust in front of her. She did not want to lose her memories to the evergrowing hunger. God knew that she was barely able to keep herself sane anymore. Her face twisted and turned with different foul emotions: rage, sorrow, bits of despair even.

"Where are you?... Where are they?!" she mumbled to herself, her voice echoing through the empty room.

There was no reply. It was simply a silent room and that alone gave her comfort. She hated to hear things now. Footsteps meant someone was coming to mock her self-starvation or just to beat her. Screams were another thing she hated. Reminded her of too many bad times. She enjoyed the silence. It gave her room to remember happier places.

"Zera..." She sniffled trying to wipe her tears with her chained hands.

"My love..." she knew that she can't hold out much longer.

She knew better than anyone that the curse affects everyone, no matter how strong-willed you were. Eventually, she knew that her body would go into survival mode and drink someone dry. She couldn't do anything about it. As she is now, she does not have the power too. All she can do is simply close her red eyes and lie there, cold and dreaming of being home with her daughter and her husband.

"Zeref..."

* * *

When Levy opened her eyes, her vision took a second to settle back into clarity when she realized that this was not her room. And of course, there was a horrible stinging coming from her neck. She hisses a little as she began to sit up, feeling heavy padding over one side of her neck. She looks around, seeing a needle with an IV and a blood bag dripping through to her arm and thinking that she was in a hospital. Well, maybe an older clinic since there wasn't much of any modern hospital technology anywhere to be seen. She wasn't even set to an EKG to monitor her heartbeat so, she had to be in some clinic somewhere. Her head was so fuzzy. How did she even get here? Why was she here? Rubbing her eyes, she saw a large curtain surrounded her bed, probably meant to separate her from anyone else in the room.

She fully sat up, putting her feet on the ground as she opened the curtain and revealed an empty infirmary area, but the other three beds were disheveled and seemed to be recently used. A crash occurred just outside the door that must have lead to the room next door. Terrified, she stepped back, but she heard the muffled sounds of what she could swear was-

"Lucy?!" by the use of blind courage, she threw open the door and saw the blonde, who was angry and crying and screaming at Zeref, who sat on one side of this new room with several adults that she recognized.

”What the fuck is that supposed to mean, we fight them?!” Lucy screams as Zeref’s eyebrow twitched, “And to top all that off, you tell us this after all that happened to us!”

Gildarts chuckles and Makarov and Silver continue to drink their respective beverages (tea for the older man and coffee for the other), not getting themselves involved unless they need to.

Levy had never been inside this room before. From the lighting, she could tell that this place operated underground and was possibly built first as a bomb shelter from the posts that held up the ceiling from caving in on them.

This room was fashioned into a space for lounging, she thinks. There was a set of cushioned chairs lying aimlessly to one side and about two couches with the same kind of cushioning, one lying against the wall and the other sitting in front of the chairs. And the one sitting on the aimless couch was that of Zeref, who was attempting to be civil as an angry blonde was screaming at him from the chair on the other side.

It was then that Levy noticed that Lucy was accompanied by Gray and Erza, both sharing a look of contempt, as they stood close to Lucy. But the most shocking of all was when Levy looked down and saw a young man with a head of pink hair sitting close to Lucy’s legs. And she was aware of who this young man was. Who could forget the face of someone she was sure had died-

”W-What’s going on?!” Levy shouts and then they realized that she was in the room with them.

”Levy!” A chill went down her spine as a large mass enveloped around her and she began to scream in retaliation. The mass got kicked in the face and it sounded frustrated, but didn’t try to harm her, “Oi, oi, calm down, babe! What’s with you?”

”Redfox, put her down before you knock her IVs out!” Gildarts says as Gray rushes to her aid, escorting her from the other’s grip.

”Redfox?” Levy looked back and she was able to put past her fear and see that it was Gajeel. But she could’ve sworn that-

The pain in her neck made her groan as she gently touched the padding. She remembered from before. How she got here and why she was injured. He attacked her, tried to kill her even. And because she was so bent on seeing Gajeel, she was okay with dying. She didn’t even consider how Lucy or Gray or Erza would’ve felt about her death though. How foolish, she thought. 

When Gildarts shouts again, Gajeel made an angry retort but released the small girl. However, he made no effort to leave her be, making her rather uncomfortable at the same time. Luckily, Gray got between them, giving a hard stare towards the taller male.

"Back off. Don't think that just because you were hers before, you can stride your punk ass up to her and expect her to just be okay with it." she could hear how cold his words were.

"Fuck off, Fullbuster!" Gajeel's eyes seemed to glow a vibrant red and flashes of the monsters that haunted her dreams began to fill her head.

Tears filled her eyes as her knees became shaky and Gajeel noticed. He immediately began to back off as Gray pushed him back.

"You don't get it! None of you fucking do!" he screamed Juvia, who also regained consciousness during this period and was made aware that something was wrong, walked next to Gajeel.

"Gray-sama-" she was turned down when Gray began to cry.

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" his cry silenced the room as Levy dropped to her knees and began to sob. Gray was now trying to hold back his angered tears, unable to deal with this whole shitty situation.

Gildarts got up from the couch, sighing before saying, "This calls for a drink. Glad I stashed my flask in here."

He walks off and Silver, who finished his coffee at this point, approaches Gray. He attempts to diffuse the situation, calmly saying, "Alright, alright. Calm down."

Gray gave him a look filled with venom and Silver pulled up his hands in a defensive position, "Cool your jets, Gray! Jeez, you're so quick to anger. I'm sorry you didn't inherit your mother's cool head."

Gray continued to glare as Silver asked, "Can we explain it, please? Properly this time."

His son scoffs, helping to pick up Levy's trembling body and escorting her and her IV unit to the couch with Lucy and Erza. With open arms, Erza took Levy and Lucy whispered something to Natsu. Though he looked as if he didn't want to, he scooched a little from her, but he was left with an uncomfortable look on his face. Being soothed by Erza's motherly pats, Levy calmed down enough that her body stopped shaking.

"You're glad she didn't have a panic attack." Lucy glared at Zeref and the headmaster gave a face of nonchalant, which pissed off the blonde to no extent.

Gajeel continued to grumble to himself as Juvia nudged his shoulder, giving a smile. He tried to give one back, a mouth full of fangs that even she found strange. After seeing her face, he shut his mouth and looked away. Jellal, who was relaxed and leaned on the same wall as these two, continued to stare longingly at Erza. The redhead would not dare look his way.

Gildarts returns, a bronze flask in hand, as he hopped on the couch. Makarov settled next to Zeref as Gildarts popped open his flask and began downing the contents with ease. Lucy now realized where Cana had gotten her drinking habits.

"Start from the top." Erza gave a command and Zeref nods.

"This world is infested with the supernatural. For most of humanity's history, the supernatural world was hidden from the naked eye. This was because we existed. A group of supernatural handlers, people born with magic and able to harness it with good intentions, became the building blocks that would soon become a society that would keep the balance. That is what we are: the exorcists." Zeref introduces this and the four on the couch across from them pay attention, even with one still shaken up.

"There are many factions of exorcists that specialize in the hunting of creatures and other such beings. The separate themselves into different guilds that be located all over the world. Our guild, Fairy Hunter, specializes in the control of vampires." Zeref looks at Natsu, who turned away from his eyes to hide his face in the couch.

"Vampires are globally known as bloodsucking humanoids who are often physically beautiful but are truly wicked on the inside. This is only partly true. Vampires crave blood, but they also thrive on the glory of battle and have an insatiable hunger for destruction and disaster. They do not think, they do not feel. They are murderous beings, incapable of empathy or remorse. And most vampires start as being simple humans. The only vampires that can turn others are the purebloods, born from demons with a hunger for human flesh. When a pureblood's blood is exposed to humans, say if their blood is mixed into a human's open wound or if the blood is digested by a human, the human will turn. It's a painful process. I've seen it happen before and I've seen what it does to humans. Since vampires don't feel emotion, that part of them, that human bit that allows them to think and feel and breathe, it becomes consumed by a hunger that can never be quenched." Zeref looks up at the four on the couch, "Which brings me to you."

The four tentatively stare, waiting for Zeref to continue. The headmaster sighs, "About thirteen years ago, Fairy Hunter was considered to be the number one exorcist guild in the country. We were a group made of powerful clans who had ties to old, familial magic. The head of the guild was my father-" Zeref glances at Natsu, "Our father, Igneel."

Gildarts chuckles a little, knocking back another whisk of his flask. Zeref sneered, "That old bastard... He was kind and benevolent and a strong leader. He had high hopes for me to take over the clan. And he loved you so much, Natsu..."

Natsu peeked his head up for a moment as Zeref continues, "I know you don't remember much about him, but he loved you. Sure, I was the eldest, but you were his favorite child. You were the only one to even inherit our family magic."

"Family magic?" Levy raised her hand.

"Yeah, wait, what do these families have to do with us?" Lucy narrowed her eyes.

"I'll explain. There were many clans in the guild, but the main ones were the Dragneels, the Dreyars, and the Fullbusters. The Dragneels were the head of the guild and their specialty was harnessing their magic for battle, enhancing their strength and firepower. The Dreyars were nicknamed the "fairies" for their wide range of magic power and their capability to detect supernatural beings through that magic. And the Fullbusters were not magically based, but they were the ones responsible for innovative weaponry that everyone used." Zeref said, "All three are important and vital components to the guild's success."

"Okay... I think I get it." Gray scratches his head.

"I believe I was eighteen. I was still a high school student. Natsu was no older than ten. In an exorcist clan, when you turn ten, it is determined by the oldest of every clan, the wise men, to see if you were worthy to become a true member of the family. If you weren't you would forget all about the world of the supernatural and be raised as a normal kid. I passed, but it was Natsu's turn that year. I knew he would pass. He had to. However... During that year, Fairy Hunter was hit with an overwhelming amount of the supernatural." Zeref's black eyes were arduous, "The clans were attacked. The casualties were high. At the end of it all, my father was dead and I was left to lead the clan. And since I was the leader, I made the executive decision to make Natsu forget. To make all of you forget."

He saw not only their eyes widened, "That's right. Each of you, and I mean all eight of you, were born to this guild, but all of your memories about us and the supernatural were erased that day. And then you went off to live normal lives."

"Wait! But that's not possible! My father was an accountant!" Lucy shouted and Zeref nodded.

"Jude was. It was Layla that was a member of the guild, as a member of the Dreyar faction." the headmaster looked to Makarov and saw the old man agreed.

"To be clear, each of you on the bus that day were once members of this guild growing up." Makarov sipped his tea, but it was so silent that you could hear a pin drop. 

To those that became vampires, they didn't understand, but how could they? They still couldn't remember what happened after all. But the other four? Those that witnessed those horrors and keep it locked up inside all these years, this was a bombshell for them. And they had no reason not to believe it after what they had seen.

Zeref saw their shock and decided to keep going, "Jump forward ten years. It's 2012. Fairy Hunter had no major incidents since. It was quiet, almost peaceful. As a leader and as a father, I took this time to enjoy life as it was. Watch my little brother grow up without having to worry about the monsters and marry the love of my life and raise our daughter together... But I was a fool. Because you all were still alive, even with no memories of what had occurred ten years prior, you still had targets on your backs. I didn't expect the vampires to go after you all. So on that day, the day you were attacked, my wife, my darling Mavis, was probably the only one who would've ever known."

"She was scared." Gajeel whispered and Levy looked at him, "I remember something... It's fuzzy, but... The bus had stopped in the middle of the road and Miss Mavis was... Shaking? I think she told the driver to keep going. And then Laxus-" the large male suddenly had a sharp pain hit his skull and he moaned, gripping his head. Juvia helped him keep his balance by grabbing his side till the other's pain had vanished.

"Don't push yourself. I imagine that it'll take a while for all those memories to come back, especially since you're missing three years of it." Silver makes a quick remark.

"The result is still the same." Zeref sat up, not even realizing he had sunk his arms so far while resting on his knees, "You four were the only ones left. They must've thought they got to all of you that day, but I think the vampires have figured out that you're still alive. This is why those four were sent after you."

Zeref pointed to the vampires by the wall and the four on the couch looked over to them, an awkward air filling the room, "What I didn't guess is that any of you were turned. This means that they had a pureblood with them that day. I imagine that whoever that bastard was got a sick kick out of turning the progeny of a once-great guild into their sick, twisted allies."

He huffed, a little irritated, "And what's worse is that soon enough, they're going to realize that they failed in their mission to get rid of you and will probably send more."

"Which brings the party to now!" Gildarts laughs, hopping off the couch, taking another swig of the flask, "Zeref, Silver, Makarov and I came together and thought it would be best to bring you all back and explain all this shit before you would've died horrible deaths- OOF!"

Gildarts was hit with an empty teacup, conveniently thrown by Makarov. The old man coughed into his hand as the nearly disheveled teacher rubbed his head. Makarov continued, "We thought it would be best if you all listened to the truth. Only you can truly decide what is best for you."

"I still have a question." Levy meekly raises her hand, "I-If vampires are incapable of feeling, then why are they like..." Levy glances at Gajeel, "Themselves?"

"That is something different altogether and honestly? We're still not sure how you all were able to do it." Silver shrugged his shoulders.

"Do what?" Gray asked.

"Taming." Zeref answered, "It's a magic technique known in the exorcist world as a means of controlling vampires. The way it works is that the human host offers their lifeblood to the vampire and by using their magic, can temporarily revoke the effects of pureblood magic on a once-human vampire."

"T-Temporarily?!" Natsu was the one to freak out this time, "T-There's a time limit?!"

"There is a way to extend the magic, but it requires the continuous giving of blood from the host, the giver. I'm going to say... About every two days or so. However, by the logistics of it, none of us can understand how any of you were able to master taming." Zeref starts to name things off, "The spell itself is complicated. It works off a different language, a dead one that used to be the main dialect for old exorcists. Many exorcists are not even willing to expose their bodies, let alone give up their blood willingly to a vampire every other day. And after none of you even remember your time in Fairy Hunter, none of you even have the experience to know magic was real. So," Zeref sighs, "It'll be something else to investigate."

"The point is that none of you can go back to the lives you've lived before. If what you've already experienced isn't proof enough of this fact, the next few attacks might." Silver interjects, seeing his son and the girls look frustrated.

"What are you asking us to do exactly?" Lucy murmurs under her breath.

"For the four of you to defend yourselves and protect those that you've brought under your care, we have to train you." Zeref stands from the couch, his eyes sharp above them, "You need to become exorcists."

* * *

"What do you think?" Lucy leaned on Gray's shoulder, continuing to stare blankly at the floor.

The four roommates were in the infirmary, sitting on a bed against the wall. After the lengthy explanation provided by Zeref and the others, they were given some time to think and try to collect their thoughts. For several minutes after the door closed, the four huddled close together, just hearing nothing but their breathing. Lucy was a little calmer than the others, but the four were shaken.

None of this was fiction. This much they knew. And everything they were ever told about the accident was a lie. Some argued that it was covered up for their good. Levy understood. Given that people were afraid of the unknown, if the public were aware of the supernatural and inhuman creatures that lurked around, there would probably be nothing but chaos. However, each of them had a sour taste in their mouths.

Three years. Three years they were labeled as nothing but crazy and traumatized. No one took them seriously about the things they saw. Not even the remaining people around them, friends, family, teachers, no one bothered to see beyond their shock and see that something was still wrong. There were too many casualties, too many bodies unaccounted for, and the fact that each of them was still alive with such wounds, found the way they were, didn't add up to just some tragic accident. But no one listened.

So the four sat silently, thinking about what to do. Lucy leaned up against Gray as Levy gripped at her knees. Erza fiddled with some of her red hair before Gray sighed.

"I don't think we have a choice." he stated, "Think about it. Soon enough, whoever sent them to us will realize that they're not coming back. And when that happens, they'll send more our way."

"Gray has a point." Levy now hugged her knees to her chest, "Logistically speaking, without any kind of formal training or knowledge on these... People, we're unable to defend ourselves." she looks to Erza, "We aren't going to get lucky again."

The redhead nods in agreement, "Then our decision is made."

She stands up, facing the three as she pulls her red hair behind her ear, "To survive, we have to do whatever we can. Even if that means fighting against monsters or whatever else people throw at us." Erza nearly sneers, "Shouldn't be too hard. After all, look at what the last three years have done to us."

The three give a small laugh to that.

"Okay." Lucy stands, stretches her arms, and approaches the door to the infirmary, opening it wide. She saw Zeref quietly deliberating something to the other men before noticing her out of the corner of his eye. 

"Have you all made your decision?" Zeref turned to her as Gray, Levy, and Erza came behind Lucy, the small blunette placing a hand of comfort on her shoulder. The vampires, who were in their corner of the room, also turn their attention to them. Natsu's green orbs rested heavily on the blonde as she took a deep breath.

"Yes. We'll do it."

* * *

"I still can't believe this." an exasperated voice echoed through the hall.

"Still pissy as ever." another voice, overconfident and flirty, retorted as it comes out of a room and into the same hall.

A young man with stalk white hair and dark eyes and a disgruntled stare was found leaning against the wall. The subject of his annoyance was found in the form of another young man, who had fluffy ginger hair and green eyes, slit almost like a cat's. Both were vampires, both from different factions, but had similar roles in society. One was a second-in-command of a faction responsible for ground control and the other was a general in charge of disposing of evidence of their kind amongst the humans, both rather high positions of power in their world. However, the general had something the commander didn't-

"You are still disgusting, fucking as if you two were still newly mated." the commander scoffs.

"I'm sorry that no one has ever looked your way, commander." the general looked smug, pissing off the other.

"Watch it, Lion." the commander hissed, flashing his fangs, "If it wasn't for my faction leader, I would've never have agreed to this. A mission into the human world to clean up another idiot's mess." he gave another angry growl, "There are far better uses for my time."

"Murder some traitors, eat some witnesses-" the general chuckles, adjusting his sunglasses, "I don't see anything bad about that. It sounds like fun. Maybe I can even bring back a sweet treat for my lovely-"

"One more word about your mate and you're bat bait." the commander had a hold over the other's collar, threatening to kill him.

"Touchy." the general raised his hands in surrender, "I think we should save our strength on the hunt. Don't you think?"

The commander growled, releasing the general before saying, "Yes. Of course." and under his breath, he said, "I suppose this could be fun."


	8. Lectures and Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The four continue to learn about their mysterious magical powers.
> 
> Natsu and the rest of the vampires hiding inside of Fairy Hunter get a chance to speak with each other and try to piece together their lost memories. 
> 
> Two elite vampires arrive in town, but it seems that some back-up has arrived for the exorcists in the form of some old and some new faces...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in one week? Uh, hell yes! I'm gonna finish this fic, even if it fucking kills me!

**June 12th, 2015**   
**Magnolia, Fiore**   
**Fairy Tail Exorcist Guild**   
**9:45 a.m.**

It had been four days. Since then, the team of rookie exorcists made their efforts to come every day to learn about their ancestry and the magic that dwelled in each of them. As far as they know, things seem to be going smoothly. The four sat in a room located inside the guild, set up almost like a classroom. They sat on four desks in front of a chalkboard as if they were attending another boring lecture. Well, boring for all except one.

"So, when we were living here, which clans were we in?" Levy held her notebook as she continued to take notation. 

Makarov chuckles, enjoying the enthusiasm that the student normally displayed to anything she found intriguing. And how couldn't she? This was a whole organization hidden from society, unlike anything she had ever come across in her library books. She was fascinated by every word that came out of the old man's mouth, taking detail of every little thing she found. And the other three just tried to keep up. Well, make that Gray and Lucy more than Erza. The redhead was a top-notch student. The other two had difficulties in paying attention. Did it have something to do with the fact that they've been studying since 4:00 A.M.? Maybe. But they did all they could to keep their eyes open for the more boring bits of this otherwise charming lecture on exorcist culture. 

"I'm glad you asked, Miss McGarden. I was about to get to that." Makarov tapped on a chalkboard as the writing magically converted itself into new information.

Levy gasped in awe, as she did the first several times this happened. She couldn't get enough of the idea of magic being a real thing instead of a figment in books or some cheap parlor tricks. 

"You remember the main clans that makeup Fairy Hunter?" Makarov points to the three names in bold, "The Dragneels, the Dreyars, and the Fullbusters. Dragneels serve as the leaders, reporting to the other guilds across the country, and have impressive offensive power when it comes to magic. The Dreyars are in charge of strategy and the protection of the guild. They are the first line of defense in an attack on the guild and their magic power has no limit. And the Fullbusters are the support group, in charge of making weapons and magic support items that are used by exorcists. They normally don't go out on the field, but they can produce a powerful non-magic hunter every once in a while."

Makarov points to Gray, "Your father happens to be one of those rare hunters. For someone with no magic to harness, he is a formidable force to deal with."

He points to the Dragneels first, "The only one directly related to the Dragneels is Natsu. He was the former leader's son and is the current leader's younger brother. Remember everyone, you all were related to this place at one point in time."

He sees some of them get distraught by the thought of their vampiric companions, but this feeling goes when he speaks, "That being said, Gajeel is also one of the Dragneels. His father was named Metalicana and he was Igneel's brother."

"Natsu and Gajeel are cousins?!" Gray began laughing hysterically and Levy thinks about it.

"That does make a lot of sense... I mean, magic wise." Levy recalls from right before the accident occurred, it was Laxus and Gajeel that seemed to react to Mavis' panic the most. She wonders even though their memories of the supernatural were erased that some kind of muscle memory (or magic memory or something of the sort; she still isn't quite sure) that their bodies retained a sense of alarm towards danger involving magic. She makes a note to ask Zeref about it later, especially with the whole memory thing.

"Not quite, but I suppose you could put it like that. Erza." Makarov watches the redhead perk her head up at the mention of her name, "You are also a member of the Dragneel clan. A daughter of one of Igneel's former generals. You were initially raised to take her place, which is why you have a love for fencing."

"So I was always trained with the art of the sword?" she asks and the old man nods.

"Correct. It was your mother that wanted to raise you into her image, the next general of the Dragneel clan. After she passed, I took charge of raising you and Laxus." he says, mumbling under his breath, "I managed to do one of those things right..."

He switches gears, pointing to the Dreyars, "I'm the current head of the Dreyars and have been for the last few decades. Laxus was my grandson and Mavis was my niece of sorts. Both of them were extremely powerful, Mavis more than anyone. She had infinite magical ability and mastered every spell she could get her hands on. Her only equal was Zeref, a prodigy in magic, but didn't have the physical strength that the Dragneels were prideful of."

He points to Lucy, "You were a member of the Dreyar clan. Your mother was the descendant of one of the clan's founders. All the Heartfilias seem to have traits from that woman, including yourself. There used to be a rumor that the Heartfilia women were just reincarnations of her. Of Anna."

"Anna Heartfilia? Never heard of her." she shrugs her shoulders.

"Of course not. Her day job was that of a school teacher. Nothing too flashy." he explains, "And as I'm sure you know, Layla, your mother, married Jude, a human who had no involvement with the supernatural world. And he never did find out about it. At least until your mother passed. He took you and was intending on raising you in a different country, but we managed to convince him to stay here. We kept you monitored after your memories were erased and after your father passed, you lived with Zeref and his family."

"Way to sum it up." she laid her arms on the table, resting her head on them, already bored with this.

"And this brings us to the Fullbusters." Makarov looked to Gray and Levy, "I don't think I need to mention Gray. But Levy, your parents worked within the Fullbuster clan. I recall them being good friends with Gildarts since they all worked in the same sector of support items. Their specialty was crafting guns."

He sees her scribbling continuously in her book, never taking her eyes off the page. She waves her hand when she heard too much silence in the room, "I'm listening! This is all so fascinating and I just need to take note of everything important! Don't mind me! Please continue!"

Makarov found himself wanting to laugh. The sight of Levy just being her usual self made him smile.

"After they passed, you were set to live with Gildarts and his daughter, Cana. But that was quickly thrown out the window when he disappeared for missions every six months. So you both ended up living with me half the time." he says, "What is important about all this is that even though none of you remember anything about the guild and where you came from, you all still have the potential to rekindle your magic. Just look at what you've already accomplished! Taming is a difficult spell and performing it successfully is rare! The fact is that once you all get the hang of your original magic, taming will become much easier."

Levy managed to dribble out her last thought before placing down her notebook, a spark running in her eyes, "What do I have to do? To perform magic?"

Makarov looks to her and Gray, "It's interesting that even though you both came from Fullbuster, you both can harness magic. That means that training will be a little more difficult since we don't have the kind of information to tell you how to summon it, but nothing a little experimentation can't fix." he turns to Erza and Lucy, "As for you both, we can get started on training today if you'd like. I know that Silver is inside one of the training rooms now. I'd ask for Zeref, but he's topside monitoring our territory."

"Can you explain that exactly?" Levy asks.

"There is a multitude of guilds that run all over the country. Each of them is located in a town and that town and some of its surroundings are part of our territory. And we can sense when unfamiliar magic crosses into our territory thanks to Zeref." he looks up, "The minute something arrives, we'll know. And hopefully this time-"

The four tense up a look as the old man put on a smirk, "You'll be ready too."

* * *

The walls were white and padded. It was too much like being in one of those exaggerated looney bins that were depicted in movies. And they hated it. All for different reasons, of course.

For the most part, it was better than the dungeon area that was recommended before. Gildarts spoke to Zeref that it would be better if they were restrained in cause any of them went rogue. Gajeel recalled growling at the comment, almost surprised at himself for how animalistic it sounded. Zeref responded that if they wanted to agitate the vampires to go into a frenzy, then the dungeon would be best. Instead, they had been stuffed into this room with no windows and just a single door, locked from the outside.

At this point, they all picked a corner to rest in. All of them were confused and exhausted, but just mentally exhausted. None of them could wrap their heads around the fact that none of them were quite alive anymore. Or most of the people that came on the trip either. And what's worse is that they couldn't remember that trip. Nothing. Natsu laid against one of the corners, knees against his chest as he hugged his legs. He couldn't stand the silence anymore. His thoughts were not ones he wanted to listen to. They weren't his thoughts. It was the _other him_. The one that tried to hurt his brother and Lucy and perhaps countless others. And he kept going on and one about how hungry he was and how good Lucy smelled. And even about how much he wanted to hold her down and rip apart her pretty little neck-

Maybe dumb Gajeel's voice would be better than his devilish thoughts.

"Do any of you remember that morning?" Natsu finally broke the uneasy silence that filled the air.

He looked up, seeing Jellal shuffle into a sitting stance, one knee against his chest.

"Somewhat." he kept his eyes on the ground, "It was hot."

"Hot as balls." Gajeel gave a weak chuckle. He continued to lay against the floor, arms cushioning his head and crossing his legs into a relaxing position.

"Erza stayed up the night before planning something..." Jellal's eyebrows furrowed in a struggling thought, "A problem with the trip's itinerary. Something about the weather being bad in the afternoon. I picked her up that morning and drove us both to school. And she fell asleep as soon as she was able to sit down... And it's blank after that."

"J-Juvia remembers a little more than that..." the girl sits up, back against the wall in a relaxed position even though her hands were a little shaky, "Juvia stayed over at Gray-sama's... He bought me a new dress because Juvia's old one didn't fit and he wanted Juvia to be happy. And Juvia was happy!"

She grinned wide for a second before it fell to a smaller one, "Juvia remembers getting to school. Gray-sama sat in the passenger seat because he was scared of driving after Gray-sama's accident. Juvia took us to school. And Juvia remembers Miss Mavis counting the students and..." she began to struggle with her thoughts, "And Juvia thinks that Miss Mavis was on the phone with someone... And that is all Juvia can recall."

"None of you remember when the bus stopped?" Natsu's voice was quiet when he said this, a sign that he still hesitated to speak about it. 

"I do. Not entirely, but I think I remember that part." Gajeel tries to remember, "Lev stayed over at my place. We had to pick up bunny girl because Lev promised and your dumb ass came with her."

Jellal and Juvia gave a light chuckle, vaguely recalling when Gajeel and Natsu burst into the bus, tempers fired up and ready for a showdown as per usual. Even Natsu cracked a short-lived smile.

"We got to school, parked the car, settled on the bus and Miss Mavis got the headcount in order. The bus was cleared and it left school grounds, smooth sailings from there. I think I was bored. Can't imagine that anything fun was happening just yet. But..." he was concentrated on a memory, "Lev was reading her favorite book... I think it had something to do with a town of bones or something like that. Whatever."

He finally sat up, "But I remember when the bus stopped."

Jellal and Juvia paid close attention as Gajeel grit his teeth.

"Thing is... It's in bits and pieces and I don't know if I want to remember all of it. I remember Laxus and Miss Mavis. She was freaked out about something. I think I was... Scared? I can't explain why, but at that moment, I just felt that something was wrong. Something bad was about to go down. There was... A window. Shattering." his eyes were wide, a little panicky, but he quickly calmed himself down once he said, "And after that, I've got nothing."

He looks over to Natsu, "Why'd you ask?"

"Just curious," Natsu responds, and Gajeel laughs.

"A dangerous pastime for a dumbass." his laughter was quieted by Jellal's glare.

"It's interesting, Natsu. I've noticed that you seem to remember more than the rest of us." Jellal notes, "And I don't mean just about the accident."

"Yeah... I'm still trying to figure out why." Natsu says, "I'm not sure if it has something to do with my magic power or something else."

"What do you remember, Natsu-san?" Juvia asks and Natsu tensed for a moment.

"It's alright. You don't have to if you don't want to." Jellal smiled at him as Natsu tries to relax.

His other thoughts kept dancing in his head.

"Do any of you remember the arena?" he whispered.

"Arena? Like some gladiator shit?" Gajeel sat up, actually intrigued.

"Think more like a battle royale. The last one standing in the ring is the winner." Natsu had fuzzy memories of this, "It's just a piece of the whole, but I remember being inside a huge battle. And I couldn't explain it, but I wanted to win so badly. Badly enough that I'd rip apart anyone that came before me."

He gripped his knees, feeling his nails wanting to penetrate through his clothes, "If I concentrate hard enough, I still hear that voice. It's maddening. _He's_ maddening. The only reason I remembered Lucy was because he thought she would be tasty." tears formed in his eyes, small cracks forming in his voice, "Isn't that just horrible? A-And I know that it wasn't me, but I can't shake it off."

He tries to relax, looking at the other three who seemed to be giving some concern towards him, "I don't know what he has done. What anyone of us done over these last few years and I don't think I want to know."

After a moment of silence, Jellal spoke up, "I know that this isn't exactly what you want to hear, but hear me out?"

He gets up, adjusting himself to sit in front of Natsu. He pats a hand on his back, kind of like an adult speaking to a child, "It doesn't matter what we did before. Eventually, we will have to face the facts and pay for the consequences of the choices we made. But for now, our priority should be to regain our memories, try to make sense of who we once were and how we can be better." he thinks about Erza, "How we can help the others and get everyone back Maybe we can even find the thing that did this to all of us."

He grits his teeth, eyes flaring red in anger, "Make that bastard pay-"

He felt Natsu tremble and Jellal paused. He takes a breath, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I just think we're all hungry." Natsu gives a weak chuckle, followed by Juvia and Gajeel joining in, "Wish I could have some hot wings right now."

"Too bad vampires can't eat normal food." Gajeel groans, "Fuck, I miss pizza."

"Juvia wants ice cream..." she thinks about old dates she shared with Gray, hugging her knees with a smile on her face "Juvia misses the beach too."

"What about you, Jellal?" Natsu asked, seeing the former vice president staring at the floor, "You miss something?"

Jellal thinks about red hair. Well, not red. It's a shade too dark to be red. Light enough to beat burgundy. Not deep enough to be considered crimson. But the color was bright enough to outshine rubies. He thought of her and her gorgeous scarlet hair. He recalls a childhood they shared where he was lucky enough to take care of it, brush her hair, and style it up. He remembers times where he would spend aimless hours practicing how to braid just to do her hair.

"Scarlet." he says lovingly, "Scarlet hair."

Gajeel bursts out laughing, "That's not food, dude!"

* * *

**Magnolia Square**   
**1:30 p.m.**

"What a quaint little town." was the comment the general made when he and the commander made their first steps through Magnolia.

Magnolia was a fairly town in Fiore. It was home to many shopping areas and tourists were mainly drawn in during the spring and summer because of the infamous festivals the town would hold. Most popular was usually in the summer, a time to celebrate relaxation and fireworks. It was just a great time to be out and about. It was also home to Fiore High School, home to many scholastic students. Many of the country's future leaders and politicians graduated from Fiore High. However, it was also rumored to be cursed. With the death of over forty-four members of the senior class reigning over their heads, of course, people began to assume the school was cursed. Since that time, grades began to decline and students started frequenting in delinquent behaviors. Things were turning for the worse at Fiore High and the survivors of the curse made it to its adjoining college, spreading the curse further.

And things were only going to get worse with the arrival of these two young men.

In broad daylight, the ginger and albino walked down the busy tourist street. With the summer beginning, students began to go out for lunch and restaurants began bringing back their outdoor tables. Tourists began to arrive in the area and these two just blended right in with the crowd.

The commander looked irked, "This place stinks. Humans are so disgusting."

"Now, now, commander. You can't say things like that here." the ginger looks over at a couple of the students and managed to wink at one girl, amused by her blush, "You never know who's listening in."

"I'm no fool, Lion," he growls and the ginger sneered.

"Oh, did I hit a nerve, your highness-" the albino whipped around, grabbing the general's collar before slamming him up against a wall.

"I told you not to call me that!" he shouts.

"Your codename is Prince though! Can't help it, your highness-" the ginger saw the albino preparing to fly his fist straight to his face, but the general noticed that some human bystanders began to notice their squabble, "Commander."

The albino put away his fist, releasing the general with a huff, "I hate working with you."

"Believe me, I would rather be anywhere than with you." the general pats down his button-down, apologizing to the humans for the disruption. Though he put up a good front, the general was prideful. He hated humans as much as the commander. But he did have to admit that certain humans did pique his interests.

The student he winked at earlier approached him, offering him a handkerchief. She wore a high school uniform, had long dark hair and bright blue eyes. He noted that sweet and innocent expression on her face. He found himself smirking.

"Are you okay, mister?" she asked sweetly and he takes the yellow cloth from her hand.

"I'm alright. My companion is just so touchy." the commander's glare was on him now, almost ready to pummel him and be done with this stupid mission, "I apologize for him."

He noticed the lunchbox in her hands, "It seems that I've interrupted your lunchtime too."

He enjoyed the blush that formed over her face. He always likes the ones that could change color with just a few words.

"O-Oh this? No, no, it's alright!" the blush was reaching her ears and he made his decision.

"No, I need to make up for it. Let me get you something. I know this great taiyaki place around the corner. Perhaps I can meet you after your classes?" he turned on the charm and watched the girl's smile widened. At these times, he loved his magic power more than anything.

"Sure... After school then, mister..." her voice was happily droll before he shooed her back to her friends.

The commander looked irked once more, "You're almost as disgusting as the humans. You have a mate already."

"Don't be ridiculous." the general turned to the commander, a mischievous glint in his eyes, "I was merely getting dinner."

* * *

Zeref was topside, looking over documents from other guild officials. He sat in his office, continuing his job with a bored look on his otherwise blank face. His thoughts kept going back to his brother.

Natsu was so skittish compared to what he remembered him being like. It was a complete 180 to his normal fiery personality. It almost felt wrong. Zeref sighed. Maybe, he thought, it was his fault. He was harsh on Lucy and his brother for what he was and neither of them could control that. He sighed again.

"Perhaps I should sit down with him... Talk things through-" his thoughts were interrupted by a phone call ringing from his office machine. The number was registered to an unknown by the school system. He picked up.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Wow, you still sound the same. It's been nearly thirteen years and you still sound like a disrespectful asshole." Zeref was annoyed already. He knew exactly who this was.

"It's been quite some time, Miss Milkovich-"

"I am only a year younger than you, asshat. You can call be Ultear."

Zeref grit his teeth, "_Miss Milkovich-_" he insinuated, "I wasn't expecting your call, especially since we ended our last conversation quite abruptly. What's the occasion?"

"Always seems to know what's up." he heard her chuckle, "Sounds right for a prodigy."

"You were considered one too, you know," Zeref says.

"But you're a man, it's different with you-"

"Get to the point. What do you want?"

The call was silent for a moment. He could practically hear her sneering at him.

"Well..." she starts, "It seems a little kitten has informed me that your guild has involved themselves in an interesting little predicament regarding the Citizen V project. Care to explain?"

"What makes you say that?" Zeref played it cool.

"Don't play dumb with me, Zeref. I know that you brought those four back into the exorcist leagues." he nearly jumped out of his seat, "And I also know that you have four vampires in your guild that you still haven't disposed of. You know, by all accounts, I should report you to the council."

He was silent. How can he retort? He knows the moment the council finds out about the kids and those vampires, they would all be as good as dead. Sure, the vampires will be executed and the humans will remain unharmed, but they will wish they were dead by the time they're done.

"But I won't tell."

Zeref had to ask, "Why not? You've always had it out for me. This is the perfect opportunity."

"Because I know that with those four vampires, there's a chance my little kitten will be able to reunite with her prince." he didn't know how to respond to that either, "Which is why she and I will arrive in Magnolia soon to take care of them. She knows he's coming and she wants to take care of him herself."

"So she's all grown up too?" he knew about Ultear's apprentice. He thought of her almost like Ultear's daughter by the way she used to follow her around and take every order. Her world nearly revolved around Ultear.

"She's become quite the young woman. I'm proud to say that she has nearly mastered her magical power. I bet she could wipe the floor with even Gildarts now."

Zeref chuckles, "I bet she could."

He was finally beginning to relax in his chair, "When should I expect you?"

"Tomorrow. Maybe tonight if we manage to catch an earlier train. Why? You gonna send someone to get us?"

"Nope," he answered bluntly and heard her snicker.

"Sounds right." she smirks, "Asshole."

"I await your arrival then," he says, hearing her acknowledge that before hanging up the phone.

It was then that he felt a surge of magical power pass through his body. He knew that meant something with a heavy magic power has passed the border set by the exorcists and entered into their territory with malicious intent.

"Damn it." he cursed to himself, "I knew that those bastards would be sending more, but this soon?"

He stood up from his desk, grabbing his raincoat as he prepared to leave. Opening his cellphone, he called Gildarts.

"Listen, suit up those kids. There's been a breach in the barrier and I think we have some company. Also..." he looks back to his office phone, "Expect some back-up."

* * *

**Magnolia Square**   
**6:30 p.m.**

In an isolated alleyway, blood continued to pool onto the concrete floor. A greedy mouth kept biting into flesh, continuing to devour the precious red liquid that spilled from her body. Her sparkly blue eyes had lost their shine, signifying that she had died already, but her blood was still warm.

"You have no class while eating either. Pig." the commander was disgusted, keeping a close eye on the street in case someone decided to get curious. 

"You sure you don't want any?" the general had his red eyes flaring from excitement. The girl's screams earlier were almost enough to fulfill his appetite, but the scent of every cute virgin always drove him wild. He always thought the blood of cute girls were the best, so fresh and tangy. It was his favorite kind to consume.

"I don't want your sloppy seconds, you damn animal." the commander lashed out his insults as the commander bit into the girl's pale neck.

"Your loss." he chuckles, warm blood filling his mouth in ecstasy. 

The commander leaned against the wall, continuing to watch for the wandering human eyes. 

"Why are you so worried about some stupid humans?" the general was finishing up his meal, addressing the wound on his victim's neck to appear more as if a knife had stabbed into her.

"It's not the humans I'm concerned with. Pathetic blood bags like that aren't worth my attention." he points to the high school student the general had kindly left bleeding on the ground.

Cleaning his hands, the general grabs his bloodied sunglasses, "Is his highness afraid of the exorcists then?"

"Enough with that ridiculous nickname." the commander said, "I'm not afraid of those amateurs. But I am concerned. Wasn't Tattoo one of Lady Kyoka's best soldiers?"

"Not her best, but he was her favorite. He was such a lapdog. I couldn't stand the guy." the general put on his sunglasses again, making sure no more blood was obstructing his vision, "Lemme guess... You're not too surprised about the other three, but the fact that someone as loyal as Tattoo turned traitor makes this all the more threatening."

"Wow, you do have a brain somewhere in there." the commander delivered a small chuckle.

"Hey, I'm pretty and all, but there was a reason I was made the general of the Celestial Knights." the general pulled out the girl's handkerchief, dropping it onto one of the pools of blood, and watched the delicate yellow cloth turn dark orange.

"Seems I might have underestimated you." the commander admits, "Very well. You are only a mere fly as opposed to garbage. You're welcome."

The general playfully bows, despite the insult, "I'm honored, _your highness_."

"Nevermind. You are demoted back to garbage." the commander groans as the general laughs.

"Come on! Don't be like that, Prince!" the two began to make their way down the empty street, leaving the girl's body to the flies.

* * *

**Magnolia Municipal Station**   
**9:42 p.m.**

As the train docked into the station, two women got off one of the late trains into town. One was a young lady, seemingly a teenager, with long bright pink hair and brightly colored eyes. She had a multitude of bracelets hanging off her wrist. Some were metal bands, some made of colored strings, and some just plain rubber bands. She seemed to be scoping the area, keeping a close eye for something suspicious.

The woman behind her was much older, more mature, and had a gentler face. She had long black hair and red-brown eyes with a motherly look to them. She directed her attention to the teenager and the girl flipped around to face her, an almost school girl blush on her face.

"Have you locked onto your target yet?" she asks as the teenager lifts her left wrist, using her other hand to pick at her bracelets.

She chooses a metal band with a blue tint and some snowflake engravings on one side. It was warm against her skin.

"He's near." the girl says and the older woman pats her head.

"Don't worry. We'll find him and we'll take care of it." she held a motherly smile on her face, "We'll finally get rid of those horrible nightmares."

The girl nods, her eyes on the ground, "Yes."

Without another word, the two walked out of the station and into the streets of the small town, hunting down their prey.


	9. Trouble in Downtown Magnolia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gray happens to find himself in a tough spot after being told that the four amateurs had to complete their first mission: execute the two vampires that threaten Magnolia. 
> 
> The commander splits from the general and found himself in the company of a lone exorcist, but can't explain why he can't bring himself to kill her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiiiiiii
> 
> I have a full schedule at school this quarter, but things should calm down by next month. I tried over and over to write this chapter in full, but I couldn't get it to work so, I cut them into two! Please enjoy yourselves as we reach the next battle!

**June 12th, 2015**   
**Magnolia, Fiore**   
**Magnolia Square**   
**9:18 p.m.**

Gray Fullbuster locked up for the night, noting to any late-night patrons of his father's coffee shop that the place was closing early. The reason for this was because his father had called him earlier about Zeref giving the word that something unfamiliar invaded their territory. Gray knew that he had to be cautious, but after only a short couple of days of training, he found himself feeling emotions that he couldn't process. There was so much noise still going through his head and not nearly enough time to process it. He hid it well compared to the girls, but Gray was scared. Maybe not as terrified as he was when the incident that started the chain reaction, but he was scared nonetheless.

He couldn't explain why he still saw Juvia in his dreams. He figured now that she was here (maybe not the way he preferred it), his nightmares would end. But they hadn't.

<strike>N̸̙̒ô̸̡͇͕̳͕̟͈̫̠͖̹̝̼͕͛̅̄̚͜͝ͅͅt̸̢̳̙̉͐̀̋̾̈̓͂ ̴̣͙͔̙͕͔̙̥̲̼̼̤̪̝͓̍̈͂̒̍̌͊̾̽̈́̀̈̌̾̕͘͜͝y̴̦̜̬͔̠̫̦͍͐͛͑̄̿́͊͑e̷̡̓͐͊̊̑̋͘t̷̬͎͖̮̬̹̫̚͝,̴̧̺̭͙͕͉͎̰̣͍̺̲̊̃̀̈́́̿͘ ̵̡̛̹͇̣̟͔̞͇̝͍̞͗̄̔̐̌̎̈̓͒͒̀̄̈ͅͅm̵̧̢̗͍̩̪͇͕̦͓̯̈́̇̒̽̀͂͒͋͑̈́̕ỵ̷̧̛͓͍͎͇̓͑͌̀͋̈́̎͛̚̚͠ ̸̧̧̧̰̯̗͇̪̜̣͕͙̘̟͌͜͝d̵̬̀͂̔̂͑̈́̃́̾̈́͒̓̋́̌͝a̵̼̯͈͓͕͍̬̣̟̤̖̤̐̎̐͐͘ͅr̴͈̳͍͕͖͎̠̗̙͎͍̻͙͙̟̀̾͊̈́̕͜͜͜͝l̵̢̛͓̳͈͚̭̋͐̕͝ḯ̴̥̣̱͇̗̻̦̀̈́͑n̷̹̠̹̰̦͇͔̆͜͜g̶͖̥̈́̌.̶̥̩̒͆̍̂̀́̃̄̒̑̊͘͠͝ͅ</strike>

He shakes his head. That voice still had so much white noise blocking it. It terrified him to think that voice could belong to anything that was associated with his woman. Then again, Juvia was not the same girl he had fallen in love with. Regardless if she remembered it or not, he could still feel the malice her hands had when she first appeared before him, ready to kill without a moment's hesitation.

"Stop it, Gray!" He shouted to himself, ridding his previous thoughts of Juvia and his dreams. He had to focus on the upcoming battle. Well, at least, he assumed there would be a battle, especially after hearing the bit of distraught in his father's voice. Silver had said that two sources of magic power entered the town, both unrecognized by Zeref and the boundaries that the exorcists had placed around Magnolia. It was safe to assume that more vampires had come to take care of the job that their predecessors didn't. So Gray had to stand on guard and remember his training (no matter how brief it was) as much as possible. He kept trying to reassure himself, insisting on relying on his newly reborn instincts and trusting his team. Even if that included his newly tamed vampire.

As soon as he hears the lock click, he begins to walk down the sidewalk. His thoughts returned to his earlier anxiety, trying to remember what his body already knew.

_"Pay attention, you four." Zeref said, pointing at the chalkboard in front of them, "You all were trained to handle situations that normal humans couldn't. Such as facing against an opponent with vast magical power."_

_Levy and Erza were the ones that paid the most attention as Gray and Lucy slumped in the desks they were provided. Zeref began writing on the chalkboard in some language none of them recognized._

_"This here is a spell that all of you once learned. For you to get back on your feet, you will need to perform this to perfection." Zeref tapped on the board and the four read out the words as best they could._

_Levy raises a hand, "But what exactly does this do, Zeref-sensei?"_

_"I'm glad you asked, Miss McGarden. This here is the spell to summon your soul weapon. These weapons are a configuration of yourself, and they're all vastly different from each other. All exorcists with magic power have one and should you face against a vampire or something worse in the future, these come in handy." Zeref stepped to the side, "Will a demonstration help?"_

_"God, please." Lucy groaned._

_Zeref sighed, giving a tiny smile, "Alright. But pay attention. That means sit up, Lucy. You too, Gray."_

_The blonde, irritated but understanding, sits up in her chair. And Gray does so without a fight. Zeref makes sure the four have their eyes on him before he tries to do anything. Once sure, he pulls a needle from the pocket of his jacket, nothing fancy. It's just one of those sewing needles. He pricks his finger, wiping blood over his hand as a magic circle, radiating black and purple lights as they dance around him._

_In an instant, black chains, glitching with purple lightning, wrap themselves around Zeref's arms and wrists. He grasps onto the end of it, flipping the chains into a nearby wall and created a massive hole upon impact._

_"This is mine." Zeref's chains retract by themselves, resting on his shoulders, "Focused and powerful. Optimizing the team and the goal. All like links in a chain."_

_"I have like so many questions." Lucy was more confused than before as Levy was giddy with her observations._

_"You didn't recite the spell," Erza said._

_"I didn't have to. I've been an exorcist for many years now. At this point, if I will it, my soul weapon will emerge with the presence of my blood." Zeref dispels his weapon and the group watches the chains vanish as if they were never there, to begin with, "Also, I have a lot more experience with magic than the four of you do. Don't worry though. In time, you will be able to do the same."_

_Zeref steps closer to them, "Now, I want the four of you to try. But first-"_

Gray stares at his hand as he makes his way through Magnolia Square.

"My soul weapon? God, we really are living some weird D&D fantasy now..." he groaned, thinking about the inevitable battles for his head.

Turning the corner to face Main Street, he felt a chill go through his spine. Never a good sign. Pausing, he carefully looks around, seeing the empty street, but still alert.

_"And what are we doing?" Gray asks, lifting his shirt over his head._

_"We have to reactivate your muscle memory, jump start your previous training." he felt Zeref poking his back in certain places, "Your body remembers, but your mind doesn't. Just because you're rusty doesn't mean the skills you already had disappeared."_

_"Like what?"_

_"Well... Sensing danger for one thing."_

"Seems that he sensed us." a chuckle echoed in the square as Gray jumped, turning to see the gaze of two blazing sets of red eyes set on him.

"So we were correct in assuming that they were found." another voice said as the two jumped from the building in front of Gray and landed before him, "Though I shouldn't be too surprised. Those four were only foot soldiers after all."

Graye recognized them instantly.

"Loke? And Lyon?" Gray mumbled to himself, slowly stepping back.

After three years and everything that had occurred within the last several days, Gray wasn't as traumatized as he was when Juvia first arrived at the shop's door, but he was still shocked. The two didn't seem any different physically, Lyon acting all stoic and Loke being a general flirting bastard, but there was still something about them that left a sour taste in the exorcist's mouth. Perhaps it was those pairs of red eyes that kept their gaze locked onto him, just waiting to pounce on their prey. Or maybe it just had something to do with the newfound instincts that he still hadn't quite gotten the hang of. It was probably both.

"I think he's scared. Are you sure we have to kill them so quickly?" the ginger cracks his neck, "It's been so long since I've gotten to participate in a hunt."

"Of course you'd be the one to want to chase your food. Wasn't the girl earlier enough for you?" the albino sneered in disgust, watching the general laugh.

Gray nearly grit his teeth in disgust. He had to keep in mind that these two were no longer his friend and cousin. They were monsters in human clothing, unafraid to slaughter anything that should breathe. And it was his job to help keep the peace around here, as his father did before him.

"Says the one that still hasn't eaten since he's so fucking picky! Ooh, humans here are so deplorable-" the general gave a pretended expression of the commander, seeing the albino's cheeks turn red with resentment.

"Shouldn't you be focusing on your snack?" of course, the commander was embarrassed by the stupid mockery.

"Is that your way of giving me permission, your highness?"

"I told you to stop calling me that, you mangy beast-"

Since the two were distracted by their own babbling, Gray went into action. He bit his finger hard enough to draw blood, summoning a magic circle. He had to remember the incantation, mumbling to himself the words as best as he could.

_"Formulus. Successund. Cadeadis. Ovantem. Anima!"_

He felt cold gusts of wind surround him, his eyes almost blinded by blue and white as he felt something land in his hand. Once the circle was gone, Gray was left with a sword in his hands. It was a katana with a white scabbard and a hilt covered in gold and blue, and strangely enough, Gray felt as if he had held this sword before.

Trying to get his head back into the fight, he grabs the hilt, pulling out the sword as he prepared to strike. Since the two vampires were still bickering, they didn't notice him approaching until Gray swung the sword at the ginger. The general prepared for a strike as the commander jumped away to not get slashed when all three of them noticed something very prominent about the sword.

There was no blade. It was a hilt and nothing more. Gray cursed at himself and his so-called magic.

What. The. Fuck. He thought. Of all the fucking times!

"And to think that I was worried!" the general had the gall to laugh as Gray was flung back by a sudden punch to the gut. He hit the concrete and felt a foot slam into his back.

"I can imagine why the higher-ups might've been worried about, but this is just pathetic." the general laughed, seeing the commander with his normal unamused expression, "He can summon a weapon, but have nothing to back it up. Isn't that funny, your highness?"

"I can agree that is quite pathetic. And it only proves that I didn't have to come." the commander pinches between his brows, looking pestered, "I have so many better things to do than getting assigned to clean up a bottom feeder's mess."

"Which reminds me..." the general digs his foot deeper into Gray's back until the human felt one of his ribs crack, "What exactly happened to those four we send to kill you? Did those exorcists come to save you or are you the only one left from your little friend group?"

Gray was in pain, but at that moment, all he did was smirk and say, "Fuck. You."

The commander chuckles a little as the general smiles, snarling before quickly lifting Gray and flinging him into one of the poles lighting the street. Eyes blazing red, he throws his sunglasses away.

"I trust you'll take care of this quickly?" the commander felt the rage and bloodlust radiating from the general.

He heard a growl in response and the commander nods, "Very well. I'll locate any other exorcists in the area and get rid of them. We'll regroup when you're finished."

The albino jumped back onto the shop roof and make a quick dash down the buildings leading to the college where he sensed a strong magic presence. Gray felt something coming off of the ginger as he saw him lift a fist that began to glow as bright as the sun itself.

"**I don't appreciate being spoken to that way, maggot.**" the voice was inhuman, Gray could almost describe it as demonic.

On instinct, he grabbed his bladeless sword, trying to ignore the throbbing in his chest and the ginger pounced. Gray managed to get out of the way in time to see that with a single punch, the ginger bent the pole in half.

"**Don't delay the inevitable.**" the ginger smirked, his fangs elongated and making his smile all the more terrifying.

Gray grit his teeth, thinking that he had to get his shit together. This isn't Loke. Not anymore.

"Fine." he stood up, flipping the hilt into his left hand and giving a shaky smirk of confidence, "Let's dance."

* * *

The commander hopped from roof to roof, detecting a strong magical force radiating from what he assumed was the local institute of learning. Something the humans called a school, he thinks, but it was much too large of a building to be a simple school. It was probably one of those upper-level schools, a college h believed it was called, made to teach human adults about the kind of work they might go into. It was a tame environment, so he heard. Unlike the arena, humans had such a difficult manner of placing into jobs, tiring themselves out pointlessly before giving up like the weak creatures they were. He was annoyed by everything humans were.

"Humans truly are so disorganized," he says as he jumped down from a taller building, but managed to land safely onto the roof next to it.

_"Magulity."_ just as he could realize it, the commander had landed on a magic circle, which glowed pink upon activation. Before he could escape, he felt a seal burn into his wrist, making him hiss. When the pain subsided, he found a holy seal, a spell he recognized was used by exorcists for interrogation. However, he also recognized that this was magic that was unfamiliar to humans of current times. This was old, advanced magic.

"This isn't something you see nowadays..." he looked over his shoulder, regaining his composure as he adjusted the collar of his jacket, "You've mastered this kind of magic and at your age."

He saw a young woman step out of the shadows and he realized that this was the magic presence that he had been sensing. This allowed him to figure out that he had been ployed to follow. He cursed at himself for being so foolish. A rookie mistake for someone of his position was unforgivable. Lucky for him that the general was nowhere near him to make fun of him. He focused his attention on the young woman.

She was small, shorter than him, but he could tell that this was a human in her early twenties, perhaps younger than the man that tried to fight him earlier. She had bright pink hair tied back in a ponytail and green eyes that were wise beyond her years. And remarkably enough, the commander had the oddest feeling that he knew her...

"After all these years..." he saw such sadness in her eyes, "It breaks my heart to see you like this."

"You act as if this isn't the first time we've met, human."

"I'm not surprised that you think that way. Ultear told me that even if we did meet again, you wouldn't know me. Just a part of becoming a vampire, she said. Wipes the mind clean of any attachments to take on a stronger form, but a weaker outlook on life." she sighs, rubbing a hand against one of the metal bands on her wrist, "Such a shame in your case. You used to tell me about how you wanted to change this country. Made so many plans to attend law school, become this big politician."

The commander was irked. This human, this girl no less, was starting to irritate him, starting with her voice and the way he wanted to keep listening. 

"Ultear said I didn't have to come, especially since my magic reacted and it's never wrong when it comes to people I want to find. I just didn't expect you to still look like-" she giggles, "Well, _you_." she takes in the regal attire and the hair that still reminded her of the end of a duck, "You even have the same haircut as before."

He grits his teeth, wanting to snarl, but his body couldn't find the urge to attack her. Is this a part of her magic? Or is this something else? The commander was no fool. He knew that he was once a human much like the others he knew in his faction, including the general and his mate. This human girl...

"I see..." he sighs, understanding why he was so annoyed, "You knew me during my human life and you're an exorcist. Let me guess." he rubs the bridge of his nose, "You're one of those sentimental humans who thinks that they can 'save my soul' or some other ridiculous nonsense and try to see the error of my ways."

He heard her laugh quietly and began walking closer to him, "You always were the smartest person in the room."

"You sure are cocky for a human. How dare you approach me-" he tried to reach for his sword but found that his body had no will to release it from its sheath. Frustrated, he turned and saw a mischievous glint in her green eyes, "What have you done to me?"

"If you're asking as you why you can't find the strength to harm me, it's simple." she got close enough to grab his wrist with the holy seal on it, "I've reactivated your muscle memory from when you were human. You can't hurt me even if you tried."

"Wretched human!" he rips his wrist away, seeing the sadness in her eyes.

"I bet you don't even remember your name," she said.

"Release this charm you've placed on me, wench!" the commander demanded and the girl simply shook her head in response.

"I will not. You will just have to sit and remain patient until Ultear is done with your friend. then we'll figure out what to do with you." the girl sat down and though the commander was even more enraged than before, he had no choice but to comply. He knew that the seal on his wrist was in no way a fake and going against ancient magic would only be a suicide mission. So he also sat, growling at the girl whilst doing so.

"The general is powerful. What makes you think this Ultear will be able to best him?" he asks quite arrogantly.

"You know how powerful my seal is?" the girl gave an amused grin, much like the commander would give when taunting the people around him, and she saw his eyes narrow, "Now imagine the person who taught me how to control that."

Someone with control on old magic like her could only mean-

"That idiot!" the commander set his priorities to retreating, having to think about a strategy on how to save the general's ass. Though he didn't care an ounce about the other vampire, if he died on this simple mission, his head would be on the line.

"Lyon, don't you run away from me!" seeing him try to run, she pulled up her sleeve, exposing skin between the shirt and the bracelets before performing another spell: _"Magulity: Centra!"_

A holy seal with similar intricacies as the one wrapped around the commander's wrist adorned her skin. And at that moment, she screams-

_"Sorrawo!"_

The commander falls to his knees, shrieking in agony as unbearable pain riddles itself through his body. His head can't stop pounding, he's somehow out of breath and his throat is much too dry. Something wet drips down his face. He can't tell what it is. Why was his vision so blurry? What on earth-

"Stop!" he cries, unable to compute what it was he was experiencing.

It was almost as if he was back in the room he was born in, the day he first awoke inside of the arena. He can't remember all the details anymore, but he recalled how parched he was. He remembered being so hungry that the moment the doors opened, he devoured his opponent. He drained the weakling dry, the sharp taste of rust, and clovers in his mouth. He even remembers being disgusted by the taste. And he remembered the opponent crying-

_A small woman huddled into a corner of her prison. Fang marks littered her arms, proof that she had been starving herself for a while now. Her_ _clover eyes are cloudy with tears and he felt oddly uncomfortable staring into them._

_"I'm sorry."_

_She had been screaming for so long that by the time he had to change the guards, her voice was nothing but a whisper. But once again, an unfamiliar feeling crept up behind him and begged him to listen to her._

_"One day... They'll come for us, but I fear I am the only one who remembers now..." her body slumped against the floor, fatigue going through her body._

_"Be quiet. Soon enough, your slow dream of death will arrive," he said rather cruelly, but even in her muddied green eyes, he saw a glimmer of something he can't understand._

_"Don't be scared."_

Thunderous pounds racked against his skull, making him clutch at his white hair. Tears streamed down his face. He had forgotten about the woman in the cell. Of course, he did. All his superiors had labeled her defective, a traitor against the ruler of the realm, and was sentenced to eternal solitude in the deepest dungeon of the arena. She was to speak to no one and not be released until she drank human blood. But after a whole year, she never did. And back when he was rising the ranks as a simple officer, he had performed the task of guarding her cell. But he had completely forgotten this encounter.

Why?

"You really have forgotten. I can feel it..." between his cloudy vision, he watches the girl kneel before her, green eyes once again shimmering with tears, "When was the last time you felt anything?"

The pain ruptured under the skin, dragging from his head downward. He could swear that his heart was beating again by how tight his chest became.

"What are you doing to me?" he cursed himself, hearing how pathetic his voice sounded. It was close to a whimper, much like the lady in the dungeon.

"Vampires don't feel human emotion, correct?" unlike her previous taunts, her voice had softened, "And yet, your head pounds, your chest tightens, your eyes water, and your heartaches unlike you've ever recalled."

Her voice cracked, "This emotion is called sorrow." 

Sorrow? He understood the concept behind certain human emotions, but this one was not something he took the time to study. He sees her lift her wrist, fresh tears dripping down her face, "My magic even allows me to connect my emotions to yours. However, it can only amplify feelings that already existed. This means you still had to have felt it."

"I am an elite vampire... A commander-" he wants to claw out her throat for making him feel so weak, for making him look so pathetic.

"Your name is Lyon. Lyon Vastia. And I've been looking for you since the day we died." 


End file.
